XSRA's Flame
by Xera Stark
Summary: There were stories...legends, once told of a powerful race, ancient in existence and lost in history. Some may only believe them to be Myths, however, they couldn't be more real. Only two of these powerful beings remain in the world of Remnant, and they are the only ones who can stop what's to come. Story is mainly OC but there will be RWBY Characters. Rated T for possible events.
1. Fate's Grip

**Authors Note: Hiya, my name is Xera and this is my first FanFic, I would love to get some feed back and some friendly criticism from anyone and everyone. It will definitely help out and would mean a lot to know that people want to read more about this story. Well, when I say "my" FanFic, I'm actually writing this with my little sister. We plan on alternating between the two of us, at least, that's what we plan on happening, anyway, have fun guys and have a nice life!**

**Disclaimer: Yea, you probably saw this coming, but I don't actually own the setting of this story (Beacon, Remnant, Vytal, etc.), oh and some of the RWBY characters that pop up somewhere, the amazing Monty Oum is the real MVP here (Owner of said stuff). My sister and I only own our OC's, and that's about it. Yep, so now that I got that out of the way, here's Chapter 1!**

***Chapter 1 Rework: Just thought I'd add some back story and plot to this intro chapter, It was kind of short to begin with. Anyway, enjoy!**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 1: Fate's Grip<p>

**Narrator POV**

"Let me tell you a story, a tale of legends and heroes, protectors of Remnant, guardians...as some would call them."

"But me, I prefer to call them by name, true huntsman and huntresses of the modern age, fighters who learned and trained to protect those who can't protect themselves."

"But this story, however extensive it may seem, revolves around one huntsman in particular. A huntsman-in-training actually. Born from fire and flame, raised from ashes and guarded by the watch of an ancient protector...Xera Stark is one of two that is left of his entire race. That race being mythical in and of itself, but no less than all the rest."

"The Phoenix, dangerously close to extinction, are an ancient species of faunus that date back centuries into the past. Before the faunus war, back when faunus and humans fought together...thrived together, back before discrimination and lesser morality."

"You see...the Phoenix were a peaceful race. They fought when needed but only at the greatest of requests. The legends of the Phoenix were told for years...centuries, but those stories could only last so long. Now...I'm the only one who remembers."

"The Phoenix were believed to be powerful beings, more powerful than all of Remnant. Power beyond comprehension, and yet...only few have ever seen such ability. If a fully realized Phoenix trains hard and focuses all their energy into their power, they can achieve aura levels beyond the capacity of anyone else in the world."

"It was this power that caused their fall and unfortunately, their very destruction. The humans saw this as a threat and believed that no being should possess that much power. And so...The Angels of Death Corporation was formed."

"The AOD hunted down the Phoenix, killing them and all ties to their family trees, cutting off all possible blood lines, effectively ending most of the Phoenix existence. And so...they went into hiding. They disappeared from the world and remained hidden, living among the people of the Remnant and concealing their heritage."

"That was until the AOD developed the technology to track the aura signature of the Phoenix race. Slowly...the species started to dwindle in numbers, quietly hunted down and removed from the world, eventually ridding all of Remnant of the powerful beings."

"All of the Phoenix were taken from this world...except for two. The only two that remained hidden from the corporation. These two...found a way to conceal their aura signature and stay alive. Over the years, the ancient race faded into legends, and eventually...became myths."

"Among those who believed the race to be gone, lost in history and non-existent, there were very few that knew the truth. Those two remaining Phoenix slowly extended their bloodline, passing off the heritage to their kin. Over the years they hid, deep within society, concealed and hidden from the world."

"Xera Stark is the current descendant of the last remaining blood line for the Phoenix. He alone has great power, abilities he has yet to understand, he doesn't even know what he's capable of. But when the time comes, Xera will need to step up and defend the world from an eminent darkness. For only he has the power to stop what's coming."

"Until he is truly needed, he will live among us. His fate yet to be revealed. His destiny still unknown to him. Xera doesn't know what power he holds, but I suspect he will find out soon enough."

"This is the story of Xera Stark...a life of Heroism...Friendship...and Comfort. But with all stories, like the one I'm about to tell you, all come with a price, and unfortunately, that price...is death. For not all heroes escape it, and not all live without it, but for some...they survive with it for most of their lives and eventually...it will catch up to them."

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><p><strong>Xera POV<strong>

I burst through the trees and brush, speeding away from the one person I never wanted to see again. They were following close behind, I could hear their breathing, their rushed footsteps across the wooded ground, the occasional evil snicker sounding through the air as they chased after me.

_"So this is how I die."_

***Crack!***

A sharp, high pitched explosion pierced through the air, the familiar whistling sound getting louder as the bullet closed the gap between us. Time seemed to slow down as I ducked and weaved through the trees, dodging more and more bullets as I ran. Hollow point rounds slamming into the trees around me, bursting wood and bark fragments in every direction.

_"I need to lose him soon, I can't keep this up for long."_ I thought as I rushed through the forest.

***Crack!***

Another bullet whistled by my ear, barely grazing a few strands of my hair. I turned back to see my pursuer only a few meters behind me, snickering evilly as they released a hail of bullets my way.

Taking a sharp turn, I took cover behind a thick oak tree, evading the wall of dust filled metal crashing into the tree I leaned against.

I took off running again once I heard a click sound through the air, _"Out of ammo, good."_

I thought quickly, taking the small window of opportunity and sprinted off again. Bolting through the trees, trying to evade and dodge as best I can when suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my left leg.

I tumbled to the ground, clutching my thigh trying to relieve the pain coursing through me. My speed came to a dead stop as I slammed against a tall tree, stopping my attempt to flee.

I sat there, dazed and in pain as a shadow loomed over me. My breathing quickened, and my vision started to dull as my head throbbed from the sudden impact.

Looking up, I saw the face of a ruthless killer, a person willing to do anything just for their own personal pride. This was the face of my murderer, I'm going to die and there's nothing I can do.

My vision darkened, my surroundings blurred and colors blended as I continued to loose blood from my leg. The image of the forest grew grey as a barrel of a gun lifted into view, cold metal placed against my forehead as I look up.

Suddenly, the world went black, all I could see was darkness all around me, I was falling through an endless void of emptiness. There was nothing, no one I can turn to, no comfort in any direction, I just continued to fall into the darkness growing limp as I plummeted downward.

_"Where am I? Why am I so cold? Am I dead?"_

Questions rushed through my head as I looked around, only to see nothing but darkness, a pitch black surrounding me on all sides.

I kept free falling in the endless deep pit of darkness. Nothing to hold me to this world as I slipped further into unconsciousness. It doesn't seem to end and all I'm doing is letting myself fall. I let myself go limp and fall through the air as I stared helplessly into my pitch black surroundings.

Why bother? It won't help.

Images blazed through my mind, scenes playing out in my head, memories resurfacing and coming together, linking to each other and creating a time line. My life flashed before my eyes, everything I've ever done, playing in my mind like a sped up movie. I saw my friends, my home, my family, all of it flashed by and memories flooded through my head. A scene began to play as more memories linked together, displaying my life a few months ago, back to where it all began...

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Just a little introduction to the main OC and a little back story. Anyway, more will be explained and further detailed in later chapters to help you get to know the characters. Like I said up top, I am co-writing this story with Sky and she really enjoys dialogue and random moments. She is writing the next chapter in Skyla's POV during her encounter with Xera, just as a heads up. Anyway, cya later and have a nice life!<strong>


	2. Lunch Activities

XSRA's Flame Chapter 2: Lunch Activities

**Xera POV**

_-A Few Months Ago-_

I walked through the doors of the school to only see some grape soda miss my face and hit the wall beside me. Someone came running my direction in a purple battle skirt with white snowflakes on it.

"I am so sorry!" she exclaimed holding an empty soda can. I merely nodded and walked away hoping not to draw much attention, but she wouldn't have it.

"I'm Skyla, Skyla Xerious."

I waved at her shyly before quickening my pace hoping she would get the hint. She appeared once again by my side.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Xera" I said quickly in a hushed tone.

"Xera. Nice name. I like it!"

"Are you always this outgoing?" I asked looking her way. I avoided her dark violet eyes.

"Ah…no not really but I can be sometimes" She said, her eyes turning a lighter color. Her eyes matched the choker necklace hugging her neck; a deep purple.

I began to walk away once again, hopefully she got the hint this time.

She did because she had walked away to catch up with a few other girls who passed by.

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><p>-<em>A Few Minutes Earlier<em> _In the Cafeteria_-

**Skyla POV**

I sat at the regular noisy lunch table staring down at my uneaten sandwich in distain. Oh how I hate lunchtime.

Who could eat this stuff anyways?

"Hey Sky, can you open this for me?" She asked giggling a bit.

I shrugged still deep in thought as I grabbed the cold soda can. I tilted it to the side and opened the can only to see the purple soda spray out and hit the wall beside a guy who had just walked in. His eyes were wide with surprise and so were mine. I gasped as the girls frowned in disappointment about their plan failing. I ran over to the still shocked guy in a hurry. He wore mostly green, not surprising. Many people here wear one color or two. He wore a green sweatshirt and sweatpants. His messy black curls fell in his face but never hid the wide eyes he had. I couldn't make out the eye color in my rush towards him.

"I am so sorry!" I said still holding the empty can in my hand. I hadn't placed it down so now it must look like I aimed for him. I grimaced at the thought of someone hating me for that silly reason.

He nodded and walked away. He freaking nodded and walked away after I had just missed his entire face with grape soda. I almost hit him in the face…with grape soda…and all he does is nod.

What is up with this guy?

I decided to follow him and introduce myself.

"I'm Skyla, Skyla Xerious"

He waved shyly towards me and kept quiet. He sped up his pacing causing me to fall behind. Letting out a huff, I quickened my pace falling back in line with him.

"What's your name?" I asked. He kept quiet again. I thought he was a mute until he spoke, "Xera"

It was a short and simple answer but it was enough to make me continue the conversation.

"Xera. Nice name. I like it!"

"Are you always this outgoing?" He asked looking my way through his wavy black bangs.

Even though I was looking straight at him, I mainly stared at his hair and he avoided my eyes, thankfully.

"Ah no, not really…but I can be sometimes" I stuttered awkwardly looking away. When I looked back, he was gone. Disheartened by his eagerness to get away, I bounced over to my friends who were walking by and began walking with them. They were talking about hot guys in Beacon and how much they wished they wanted to go to beacon. I barely listened because my thoughts were still occupied by the green stranger and why he had ignored.

Seriously? Was I that annoying?

I scowled to myself and watched my feet walk along the tiled floor as I blocked out the usual chatter.

I can't wait to get to beacon…because then I can get away from these people and maybe meet some new ones. It's impossible to get in this school. Top notch they say. I chuckled slightly to myself ignoring the looks my friends gave me. It took me a lifetime to get in that dang school. Bad the thing is, I spent everything on that school. Good thing about leaving this place is that I'll never see anyone from this school again.

Once I reach the school, I know many people go there to become a huntress or a huntsman but I don't want to become a huntress really. Maybe a little…

I sighed loudly and departed myself from the others to head to my room without any other objections. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I slowly withdrew a small notebook hidden beneath my mattress. I opened it up to see nothing written. Empty pages filled the book. Not even a title page. The cover was empty and was a plain white covering. So why did I still keep it?

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><p><strong>Just showing a second side to the story. Sky has a good time messing around with dialogue and random thoughts, way better than me might I add. Anyway, cya later guys!<strong>


	3. Xera's Book

XSRA's Flame Chapter 3: Xera's Book

**Xera POV**

Soon after she walked off with her friends, I sighed and released the breathe I didn't know I was holding.

"Why am I so awkward around new people?" I muttered to myself as I walked down the halls of my school. I've always had trouble making new friends and keeping up conversations with the people around me.

As I walked down the hallway, I pulled a small book out of my sweatshirt pocket. I always keep it on me so no one can get their hands on it, and it also helps that I never take off my sweatshirt. I have my reasons for why, it's a personal thing. The book looks to be nothing special, it's banded in a black, hard paperback covering, and has gold lettering on the front. I turned the book over and read the note engraved into the back written in similar text.

It read, "_Life is full of surprises, those that pass by without notice, and those that pull you in without a second thought. It's those opportunities in life that make you realize who you are, and creates the path for you to follow and become greater than you have already become. This Journal will help you find your way into your own future, and live life to its fullest degree. Keep this book close to your heart and never fear what lies ahead, I've always believed in you Xera"_

_-Love, Leona Stark. _

Flipping the small book open in my hand, and turning to the bookmarked page, I read the date written at the top and pulled out a pen. I'm not much of a talkative person, but I rather enjoy writing. This small book is my personal Journal of my life. I will never forget the person who gave it to me.

I approached the school courtyard, a large square of luscious grass, surrounded by pillars supporting the roof around its perimeter. The sky and sun beamed down and cast its light across the flowers that bordered the edges, and in front of me lay a stone pathway that winded its way toward the center of the courtyard. It encircled an oak tree that stood alone in the middle of the grass land. I smiled, smelling the familiar scent of roses and felt the gentle breeze ruffle my hair a little. I walked down the path and reached the massive oak tree towering above me. I jumped and climbed to my usual spot atop a thick branch and sat down, leaning against the trunk of the tree. I always come here whenever I need to get away from the bustling cafeteria during lunch time.

I looked down and started jotting down what happened today. It certainly wasn't expected to watch grape soda fly past my face, but that girl was the reason why I'm even writing this down. She surprised me with how she acted and insisted on knowing my name. Not too many people would even care to say sorry. I've become used to that kind of response in my life, thanks to my past, it was always filled with hurtful comments and rude names, and I never thought some stranger would even consider doing what that girl did. Skyla Xerious . . . I would like to meet her again sometime. But I doubt that would happen, today is the last day of school and I've been accepted into beacon, It's been my lifelong dream to go to that prestigious academy. Beacon is the top school for training Huntsmen and Huntresses, heroes of the modern age. I trained hard to get in, and I can't wait to start my training when I'm there. I want to become a hero, I want to fight the evils of this world, and I want to avenge what was lost and taken from me . . . I will become a Huntsman. I will prove that it doesn't matter _what_ you are, it's what lies within you and what you do that will carve your path into the future.

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><p><strong>Just a little back story and some character development. Yep, uh . . . one sec, ok that's about it. Let me know what you guys think and have a nice life guys.<strong>


	4. To Beacon!

XSRA's Flame Chapter 4: To Beacon!

**Skyla's POV**

The bags are packed and the good byes are said. School is over and summer is finally here. Which also means it's time to head to Beacon. I quickly grabbed bags and rushed over to the air ship, where I parted with the crowd and boarded the vessel.

I hopped onto the air ship and sat down at the back of the car and placed my bags into a small storage compartment above. Pulling out a small book, I began to read. Several more people boarded the train but none usually sat towards the back so no one really bothered me. From the corner of my eye, I caught a blur of green sliding into a seat a few booths in front of me.

I slowly leaned out of mine to catch the face of the green but he had his back turned towards me. Sighing, I gave up and slide back into my seat and snuggled into the corner to continue my reading. I can't wait to begin training with the huntresses and huntsmen there to learn new skills and become better. That's what I truly look forward to. Too bad I won't see that Xera kid again. Though he ultimately looked like a person who people wouldn't spare a second glance at, I did but what caught my attention most were his eyes. Many people have unique interesting eyes, I myself own a pair of dark violet eyes but his intrigued me. One second I saw one color, the next they were different. They didn't darken or lighten, they changed their entire color. I wanted to learn more about him, why he was so quiet and mysterious but I never got the chance and I never will. Beacon is a hard to get in school. You're lucky if you even get considered, let alone be accepted.

I placed my feet up on the other seat and brought my knees to my chest and continued to read despite my mind being somewhere else. A habit of mine. Whenever I read, I still am reading the book but half of my mind is somewhere else thinking.

As the air ship began to move, I leaned back into my seat and watched the buildings and people move out of view and change into blurs.

Soon, my eye lids became heavy until they finally drooped down and I fell into a dreamless sleep.

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><p><strong>Hey Guys! I am Xera's sister who wrote this little chapter. I'm Sky almost like Skyla but not quite. ^_^ Mkay byyeeee!<strong>


	5. A Familiar Face

XSRA's Flame Chapter 5: A Familiar Face

**Xera POV**

I've always loved heights, just the thrill of being up in the air was always so much fun. If I could, I would be up in the air as much as I can, but I can't do that here. Not while I'm standing in the body of a massive Air Ship speeding through the sky. Yep, its official, I'm on my way to Beacon Academy to become a Hunter. I was leaning against the wall in the back corner by a window, watching the city of Vale fly by. In my hands was a book that I recently started reading, "Hero's Dynasty", it's definitely a good book. There's plenty of action and adventure, tons of characters and plot. I was really getting into the book and the world around me was just blurred and cluttered with muffled noise.

I can hear the faint sound of the News Reporter's voice toward the other side of the air ship. It was a nice background noise for my reading, and there wasn't too much commotion inside the flying vessel as far as I know of, except for this one blonde guy who had trouble holding in his lunch. I felt bad for him, understanding that not all people can handle heights and motion.

Suddenly a hologram image of a young woman appeared and the News Channel was shut off. I turned my gaze from my book and looked over to see everyone paying attention to her. _"Hello and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glyda Goodwich. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."_

And with that, the hologram shut off and disappeared as fast as it appeared in the first place. Everyone's gaze then shifted to the windows and I heard a few slight gasps and "Whoa, check this out". I turned and noticed what everyone was looking at. Beacon had come into view and the ship was coming in for a landing. The Academy definitely deserves its title as one of the top schools for training Huntsmen and Huntresses. Outside the window stood massive towers and multiple expansions in every direction, in the middle stood a centralized tower with the tallest structure compared to the rest. This place almost looks like a palace, if it weren't for the training courtyards and the school rooms. As I was taking in the magnificent sight, I felt the ship start to descend and land not far from the front gate.

After the doors opened, all the passengers flooded out to get a better look at the view. I turned to see one last person still on the ship with me. She must have been waiting for the crowd to rush off too before getting off the ship herself. She had a pale complexion, and she was wearing black, low-heeled boots, black stockings that started at her hips but gradually faded to purple as it neared her shoes, there were black ribbons on bother her arms with a black detached sleeve and a silver band on her left arm. Further up she wore a black buttoned vest with coattails, and a white, sleeveless undershirt that exposes part of her midriff with white shorts that may be connected to her shirt, although it is partly obscured by the vest. She also had a detached scarf-like collar around her neck. To top it off, she had long, wavy black hair with a ribbon tied in the shape of a bow atop her head, and her eyes were mesmerizing in color. They were amber in color and were complemented by light-purple eye shadow flaring backwards. Her eyes were currently focused on the book she was reading, I couldn't make out the title by the way she was holding it, almost as if she was purposely hiding it.

She must have sensed me staring because she looked up and met my gaze with those amber eyes. The girl gave a small smirk toward me and I immediately broke eye contact, feeling awkward and turned my head back to my book. After staring at the book for a few seconds, I closed it and swiftly slid it back into my sweatshirt pocket then walked off the air ship with the girl following behind me. She walked toward the nearest bench and sat down to continue reading.

I looked up and took in the view of all the towering sections of Beacon. This is it, this is where I'm going to live for the next 4 years. It would be a good idea to go and find my way around, this place must be huge and it most likely won't be easy to find my way around.

I was snapped out of thought when I heard a ridiculously loud explosion. Looking around, I noticed a two girls surrounded by white suit cases, and they were engulfed in a cloud of dust. One looked younger than the other and was wearing red and black. The other girl sported the color white and some pale blue. I thought to myself, "_One of them was probably messing around with one of those Dust canisters, It doesn't take much to set some of that stuff off."_ The girl sitting on a nearby bench with the bow also took interest in the situation and looked at them as well. After hearing some yelling coming from the older girl, I walked off around the scene and continued into the gates of Beacon, not wanting to get involved in whatever was going on out there.

I walked down one of the many corridors of Beacon and found myself outside the cafeteria. It was bustling with people, tables were spread out all along the floor with occupants chatting about their lives before coming here. I can tell that everyone here is excited to have been accepted into this Academy.

It must have only been half a second after I stepped through the doorway when a flash a purple was flying straight for my face. Luckily I ducked in time for the liquid to sail straight over my head and splatter all over the wall behind me. "_Was that grape soda?"_ I thought, and then something came to mind, "_Wait, the exact same thing happened in my last school too."_ I was pulled from my thoughts by a girl running up to me to apologies. "_Hey, she looks familiar . . . but where have I met her before?"_ I stood back up and turned toward the incoming teen. Her eyes widened and she skidded to a stop a few feet in front of me. "Oh, it's you! Xera, hi, it's me." She said with a sheepish grin. I gave her a small smile, _"So, that's where I know her from."_

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><p><strong>Kinda went a little over board when I described Blake, but it doesn't matter. She is my favorite character out of the team RWBY. Anyway, so . . . Xera's in for an interesting time here at Beacon. I wonder who will become his partner, and what team will he be a part of? Well, hope you guys are liking the plot so far, and as always, Have a good life!<strong>


	6. Time to Kill, Coffee to Burn

XSRA's Flame Chapter 6: Time to Kill, Coffee to Burn

**Skyla's POV**

So Xera goes to this school! Sweet!

"So, what are you doing here?" I asked walking outside of the cafeteria towards the court.

"I'm here to train" he said sitting down on the bench. I chuckled to myself thinking of how dumb the question must have been. Of course he was here to train and become a hunter, everyone was.

"I knew that…."

"So, what are you doing here?" He asked, his pink eyes twinkling.

I laughed at his appearance considering pink was so not his color.

He tilted his head at me quizzically. "What are you laughing at?"

I laughed even harder in the middle f explaining the laughter. Finally, I was able to speak, "Your…eyes…are PINK!"

"Shut up" he said playfully. "Let's explore some of the campus before initiation."

I nodded excitedly ready to get up and explore Beacon. I quickly stood and started racing down the court and towards the local coffee stand with Xera walking painfully slow behind me.

"Catch up slow poke or I'm ordering without you!" I shouted behind me.

"I don't like running"

"Well I do!" I said running quickly in front of the stand. "One Carmel frappachino please"

The guy smiled before handing me my drink. Thanking him, I handed him the money and raced back to Xera.

"I got coffee I got coffee I got coffee!" I shouted jumping around him .

"Your-"Before he could finish, a pink headed girl came running through latching onto his chest screaming, "I got coffee I got coffee"

"Omg so did I!" I shouted jumping around giddily.

"Carmel Frappichinos!" We shouted at the same time.

"Skyla calm down!" Xera said peeling the crazed girl off his chest.

"I'm Nora" she said just as a guy came running towards her in green.

"Nora! Don't run off like that again!" He said slowing down to a jog.

Nora giggled while leaning to the side. "Sorry Ren" she smiled.

I walked over to Ren and studied his features. Green like Xera.

He kinda reminded me of Xera, calm and similar taste in clothing.

He smiled a friendly smile towards me. "I'm Ren"

"I got a coffee!" I shouted happily before skipping towards Xera trying to calm Nora who was busily waving a giant hammer around.

"Ren Ren Ren Ren! Where's my coffee?" Nora asked putting her hammer down.

"You drank it all"

"Nooooooooo"

"You can have mine" I smiled cheerfully handing her my coffee.

She squealed loudly drinking the entire cup in one gulp.

"Nora slow down!" Ren shouted at the same time Xera said "Skyla stop running around!"

"Its timmeee for ice cream" I sang happily dancing around Xera.

"I don't think sugar is a good thing for you right now Skyla…"

"Don't you question me!" I shouted running towards the ice cream bar with Nora by my side.

Xera and Ren began walking towards the ice cream chatting along the way.

By the time they reached the ice cream, Nora and I had already eaten 3 cups of vanilla and oreo ice cream.

Xera came into the shop first followed by Ren, "So you use boomerangs?" Ren asked Xera.

He nodded as he sat down at our table. I didn't bother to listen to the rest of the conversation, I was busily licking away at my cone I decided to get.

"Skyla? Skyla? Skyla can you hear me?" Xera asked waving a hand in front of my face. I looked at him with a death glare for interrupting my eating.

"How many cones have you had?" He asked.

"5!" Nora shouted.

"I had one!" I said taking a bite from the cone. Xera let out a sigh of relief before I quickly added, "But I had 3 bowls of ice cream before this"

His yellow eyes widened in shock and surprise.

"Were we that slow of walkers?" he asked Ren as he tried to hold Nora back from getting more ice cream. He shrugged his shoulders before setting Nora down into a seat.

"Can I pleasseeee have one more?" I asked Xera with large puppy dog eyes.

"No."

"Pleaasssseeeeeeeeeeee"

"No"

"Pllllllleaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

"No."

I took in a deep breath before shouting at the top of my lungs, "PLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?"

He stared at me calmly before answering, "No."

I sighed loudly before turning my gaze to Ren. "Ren" I batted my eyelashes. "Can you buy me an ice cream?" I asked pouting.

He stared at me for a little bit contemplating whether or not he should.

"Ren…don't give in" Xera said patiently.

I pouted and batted my eyelashes some more making my eyes water. Finally, he sighed in defeat and got out of his seat to buy me an ice cream.

"Yes!" I shouted jumping up and down in victory.

"Oooo are we jumping now?" Nora asked jumping out of her seat and jumping around the room with me holding her large pink hammer in hand.

Ren came back and immediately placed the ice cream onto the table before rushing over to us. "Nora put the hammer down"

"Wait!" I called out but it was too late.

"You want the hammer down? Kay kay" She said slamming the hammer down sending a giant shock wave through Beacon no doubt.

The wave threw us all back against the wall leaving only Nora standing there happily eating my ice cream.

"Something wrong guys?" she asked staring at everyone's frazzled looks.

I slowly shook my head no and remained against the wall along with the chairs she sent flying back as well.

She giggled and continued to lick the ice cream as she sat down on the floor smiling.

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><p><strong>Yay Avengers reference! So, Initiation is coming up, and it will be in two parts. Part 1 will be up tomorrow, and it is completely awesome! If you didn't catch on yet, Sky wrote this chapter up, she had a little fun messing around with some of the canon characters. I actually wasn't originally planning Xera and Skyla to be so much like Ren and Nora. Anyway, have a nice life guys!<strong>


	7. Did he say Landing Strategy?

**Hey guys, Xera here. Just as a heads up, this is part 1 of initiation. Get ready, I tried to make the scenes as intense as I could, anyway, here's Chapter 7!**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 7: Did he say Landing Strategy?<p>

**Xera POV**

_"Right, Okay. Landing strategy, this shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Plenty of tall trees, lots of time before I hit ground level. If I use my weapons to st-"_

"Birdie, NO!" My planning was interrupted by one of the other initiates flying behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw a young red haired girl collide with an unlucky bird. A few giggles and stifled laughs cut through the air.

_"I need to get ahead of these peop-"_

***BOOM!*** A blonde girl just launched past me at high speeds, firing explosive shock waves toward the trees below using some sort of shotgun wrist gauntlets.

_"Whoa, she has gauntlets that can shoot gravity rounds. That must be how she can launch herself so far with each shot."_ That got me thinking, my weapons should be able to allow me to do something similar to what she's doing.

I pulled out my Anivia's Talons, two twin blades made of black steel and engraved with lime green detailing on the handle and blade. Each blade extends a foot straight out of the handle then curves at a ninety degree angle for another foot until it stops to a rounded but sharpened edge, the blade making an almost sickle shape, but not as circular. _"These should definitely maintain their flight path and support my weight."_

Still flying at high speeds, I aimed to my right and threw my blade as hard as I could at an angle. _"Should be enough strength and speed to. . ."_ The blade, spinning at a high speed, started to curve towards my flight path. I waited for the perfect time, then when the blade crossed directly in front of me, I flipped forward and planted my feet on top of the spinning sword, I kicked off and jumped, gaining some height and maintaining my momentum forward. Just as I jumped, I threw my other weapon to my left, angling it a little higher this time.

At the pinnacle of my jump, my first blade that I threw circled around and flew into my hand. I caught it and lined up for my next jump. _"I should be able to make it fairly deep into the forest if I keep this up."_

After a few more jumps, I started to lose my momentum, and started getting lower and lower with each throw. _"Alright, time to go meet with solid ground again."_ Catching my last throw, I aimed for the tallest tree in front of me, Anivia's Talons in each hand. _"This is gonna hurt."_

I reinforced my arms with my aura to reduce the pain, even if it's just a little bit. As my weapons made contact with the tree's trunk, I felt a sharp pain pull at my arms, carving into the tree and spiraling down the trunk until I made contact with the forest floor, rolling to avoid any potential injuries in my legs. _"Gah, that's gonna hurt tomorrow."_

I started walking north, that's where the ruins and artifacts should be located. _"I have to keep my guard up, Ozpin mentioned the potential for plenty of Grimm encounters in this forest. No need to get caught off guard."_ Just as I finished my thoughts, I heard a low but deep growl to my left.

I jumped backward just in time for an Ursa to charge out of the brush, swiping directly where I was just standing a moment ago. Right as I landed, the Ursa charged again, this time making contact with my stomach, swatting me into a nearby tree. _"Ow, dang this thing's faster than I thought."_ No sooner had I finished that thought, the Grimm had charged again at full speed. _"_Enough!" I yelled as I drew one of my Anivia's Talons and dove to the side, evading the Ursa's attack.

I stopped my roll just as the beast recovered from smashing head first into a tree, turning toward the Ursa, I reared back my arm and threw my sword. Thanks to the corrosive dust engraved into Anivia's Talons, it had no problem slicing the Grimm clean in half, effectively cutting down a few trees in the process as it circled around back to my grip. _"Alright, it's easy enough to fight these guys, just as long as there isn't too many of the-"_

***ROOAAR!***

_"Gah! Stupid life, stop reading my mind and freakin jinxing everything I think!"_ I turned and noticed I was surrounded by 5 more Ursi, all ready to charge at any second. Quickly drawing Anivia's Talons, I spun releasing both blades. Each blade took off and circled around me, approaching the line of Ursi in record time. The swords made quick work of the ambush, spinning out and arcing in a wide circle, slicing through each grimm multiple times before starting their return trip.

Catching my weapons, I turned to look at the after math, not noticing a sixth Ursa quickly approaching me from behind.

"Hey! Watch your back!"

Just as I heard the warning, I turned to see the beast inches from my face, breathing hard and letting loose a loud growl, but it wasn't attacking me. I stepped back and noticed it was tangled and tied up, completely stopped in its tracks by . . . _"Are those ribbons?"_

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><p><strong>Skyla POV<strong>

"Hehe, that was a close one. The bear thing almost got you!" I said with an amused smile across my lips.

Xera turned toward me, still a little shocked but at the same time, also relieved. "Thanks Skyla, hey, how did you get those ribbons around that thing so fast?"

"They're part of my weapons, I can control and manipulate them with my aura. Kinda like what those people do by playing music to snakes in a basket!" I stated while making flute gestures with one of my swords. He smiled at my antics and took a step toward me, "So I guess this makes us partners, right?"

"Yup, this is gonna be so much fun!" I said while pushing a little more aura into my ribbons, crushing my prey into a small furry ball, "You up for a game of catch?" I asked with a sarcastic tone.

"HRAAH!" Someone screamed, followed by an ear shattering explosion of pure power! Xera and I turned toward the source of the sound just as a sonic shock wave crashed into us, throwing us both into the ground with unbelievable force. "What. Was. THAT!?" I yelled, still startled and dazed by the sudden impact.

* * *

><p><strong>Unknown POV<strong>

He charged the death stalker again, rearing his massive battle ax back with full force, bringing the weapon down with immense strength impacting its armor for a second time. "BOOM!" Another shock wave ripped through the air, effectively throwing me down to the ground again as I watched.

The death stalker slashed with its pincer at its attacker, slamming him into the ground before readying its tail for a second strike. "Watch out!" Just as I screamed, he quickly rolled to the side, evading the deadly golden appendage attached to the tip of its tale. The guy got up and dove backward, dodging a second swipe from the death stalkers pincer.

Finding his footing, he ran a few feet before skidding to a stop, then turned and faced his foe. His eyes pooled with red and his entire body started to glow, engulfing himself in an overwhelming amount of rage and anger. The angered man knelt down aiming his battle ax at the currently stuck death stalker, thanks to its tail being gripped by the ground. His ax split at the tip of its blade, folding back and retracting into what looked like a large crossbow. A high pitched noise was sounded through the air, almost like he was charging his weapon for a more powerful attack. The pitch got higher and louder, and the crossbow was starting to glow a light blue, getting brighter and stronger as the noise increased in volume.

***BOOM!*** A thunderous explosion pierced the air just as a massive bolt of blue lighting shot from the tip of the crossbow, releasing a magnificent light and flooding the forest in a hue of blue. I looked away to avoid being blinded by the sudden burst of lightning. After a second, the light died down and I turned back to see a smoldering corpse of a death stalker, and the man looking my way. I gave him a small wave and he started making his way towards me.

He stood a few feet in front of where I was standing, effectively towering over me and terrifying the crap out of me. I was looking down at my feet when he said something in a deep voice, almost soothing to the ear. "Hello." I relaxed a little and looked up at his face, noticing that his eyes were no longer red, they were a dark blue now, and he had a small smile on his face. "I believe that you're my partner now, my name is Rex, Rex Tyro."

I gave a small smile and introduced myself, "Hi, my name is Alix Stowe. That was quite a fight back there."

He looked over his shoulder toward the scorched earth and the remains of a death stalker, letting out an amused grunt, "Yea, I may have gone a little over-kill on the thing."

"WOAH, that was totally awesome!"

We turned to see a girl running toward us wearing a purple battle skirt, and a guy in a green sweatshirt following behind her, but he wasn't making an effort to run.

* * *

><p><strong>Yea, two more OC's for ya, I've been waiting for the right time to introduce them. Currently hinting at some of the weapons, but not revealing too much, that's for later. Anyway, I haven't mentioned this before, I have no reason why, but follow and favorite the story, there's plenty more to come. Besides, you haven't even met the evil guy yet. So keep a look out for Part 2 and have a nice life guys!<strong>


	8. Who's Superman?

**Alright, part 2 is here! How 'bout a little introduction and some more info about the new guys. Anyway, enjoy!**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 8: Who's Superman?<p>

**Xera POV**

I followed Skyla out of the brush and trees, and walked into the clearing where we spotted two more initiates. The one guy must have just finished a fight with that pile of smoldering gunk over there, he was looking somewhat worn out and exhausted, but he was making an effort not to show it. The guy was holding a massive, and I mean massive silver battle ax with gold detailing, and what looks to be lightning dust engraved into the double edged blades. He stood a little over 6 feet tall, looked to be about 18, and wore a silver trench coat with yellow trim, a dark blue t-shirt, black jeans, and silver boots, also with yellow details and highlights. The guy also had short, silver hair with yellow streaks, spiked straight up with gel, and dark blue eyes.

Next to the tall man stood a shorter, dark red haired girl, who looked to be about 5 and a half feet tall. Her hair was placed in a braid that falls down her left shoulder. The young girl looked to be about 16 and owned dark silver eyes, she was also wearing red headphones around her neck. The red haired girl wore black and red leggings, a dark red battle skirt with red fringes, black long sleeve shirt under a black leather jacket, and black combat boots, sporting crimson red dust designs on them. On her back was her weapon, it was black with red engravings all along the body and seemed to lead to a central focus point. _"It looks like a b-"_

"Woah, is that a bow!?"

I looked toward the owner of the voice and sighed, "Real subtle Skyla, and yes I believe that is a Dust Longbow on her back." I said while approaching the two people. "Hi, sorry about the sudden introduction, but we came to see if someone needed help. It seems we weren't needed at all actually."

"Yea, we were talking and then suddenly, we heard a yell then an explosion and then we were thrown onto the ground with some sort of wave of pure force or something!" Skyla cut in.

The tall guy looked us over, "Sorry about that, I accidently found a death stalker in some sort of cave over there." He said while sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. "My name's Rex, if you're wondering."

"And my name is Allix." The red haired girl said. "And this here is my bow, Kryptonite's Arrow."

"Ooooooooo, that is so cool! Can you shoot Superman with that thing?!"

"Skyla, please calm down." I turned toward Allix with an apologetic smile. "Sorry again, by the way, my name is Xera."

"And I'm Skyla!"

Allix looked over the anxious girl, "So I've heard, and to answer your question, who's Superman?"

Skyla looked up in deep thought, humming some sort of tune I didn't recognize, soon looking back at all of us with a confused expression, "I'm not sure, the name kinda just jumped out of my mouth for some reason. But whoever he is, he sound really cool!"

Rex cleared his throat, drawing in all our attention before he spoke, "I believe we still have a mission, do we not?"

"Yes, let's start heading toward the ruins, they shouldn't be too far from here." I said, pointing toward a stone pillar peeking through some of the trees.

"Can we tag along with you guys?" Skyla asked with a pleading smile.

Allix stifled a giggle and answered, "Of course, I don't see why not." She turned to Rex and received a slight nod of confirmation.

We headed in the direction of the stone pillar, chatting along the way and getting to know each other better. By the time we reached the ruins, we were all thinking the same thing. _"Man, it would be fun to be on a team with these guys, their easy to talk to and have a few laughs with."_

Stepping out into the clearing, I spotted a stone circle in the middle of the ruins, around the circle stood multiple pillars, all standing about 3 feet off the ground. A relic was placed at the top of each pillar. _"Well, isn't this a classic. These probably determine what team everyone will be put on."_

"What are they?" I turned to see Skyla poking one of the gold relics with a confused look on her face.

"They're the relics Ozpin told us to retrieve for initiation." Rex informed the curious teen.

"Yes, and they look to be chess pieces as well. Go ahead and pick one Skyla." I waved Skyla the 'go ahead' motion and watched her browse through the selection of pieces. She came across the black rook piece and stopped. Her eyes widened and she grabbed the piece in a blink of an eye.

"Yay! I'm queen of the castle! Nothing can stop my ruthless rule upon those who bow before me!" She sang in a playful tone.

I looked over and saw Allix pick up the other black rook piece, examining it before handing it to Rex for safe keeping.

"We must have been the first ones to get here, it doesn't look like there are any pieces missing other than the ones we grabbed." I mentioned while noticing the abundance of relics standing before us.

"Cool, let's be the first ones back as well." Rex said before he started heading back to Beacon's Cliffs with Allix following behind him.

Skyla jumped cheerfully and followed Rex's lead. "Yes, we're gonna win the race! Come on, let's go before the slow pokes get here!"

"Skyla, I don't think this is a race." I said while starting to follow my teammate. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a shadow lurking in the bushes to my right. I turned toward it, trying to get a better look, but before I could focus on the shape, it disappeared into the forest.

_"Weird, was that another initiate? No it couldn't be. They would've had a partner by now, and there's no point in spying on us. Who else could have known about initiation other than Ozpin and the students? Unless . . . no, there's no way he could have found me. It's not possible, I made sure not to use my-"_

"Hurry up Xera, stop being such a slow poke!" Skyla yelled, waving for me to come toward her and the others.

"Okay, fine. But I'm not running!" I yelled back toward my partner.

Our trip back to Beacon was running smoothly, up until the point where Skyla wanted to explore some more ruins just off to the right of our path. "Come on, we're already ahead of the crowd so why not explore a bit? It'll be fun!" Skyla reasoned with the group.

We just shrugged and followed Skyla toward the ruins. She took off and I lost sight of her as she sprinted into one of the structures, soon emerging with something in her arms.

"Look what I found! It's another relic!"

My eyes widened when I saw what she was holding, "Skyla! Put that back now, quickly before it finds out its missing!"

"What do you mean?" Skyla asked curiously.

Allix gasped once she noticed what was in Skyla's possession, "That's a Nevermore EGG!"

Skyla's eyes went wide in shock and horror once she realized what she's done. Just as realization struck her, a loud screech echoed through the ruins from behind where she stood, "Skyla, put the egg down gently." I said, while gesturing her to be quiet.

She put it down and started walking toward us slowly, after a few steps we heard another screech and turned to see the Nevermore take flight.

"Time to go!" Rex ordered as we all took off running for the closest trees, unfortunately we were too slow. The Nevermore spotted us and was already soaring overhead to cut off our escape route.

Landing in front of us, it let out one more screech before glaring at us in anger, mainly at Skyla who was looking particularly guilty at the moment.

"Looks like we have to fight it." Allix stated, a little annoyed by their lack of options.

"Fine, I have a plan but it's going to require all of us to pull off." I nodded toward the group as they turned their attention to me.

"Alright, Allix you stay back and fire Kryptonite's Arrow to draw its attention. I'll follow up with my boomerangs to keep it distracted while Rex and Skyla rush in with their weapons. Skyla you need to try and hold it in place with your ribbons while Rex uses his lightning bolt crossbow thing to kill it."

"I can't do that." Rex cut in, he sounded a little ashamed by his words. "That ability drains almost all of my aura when used, I still haven't recovered from my last fight with the death stalker."

"Alright, then aim for its neck with your ax, that should deal some damage." Allix suggested.

Rex nodded and we put our plan into action.

Allix let loose a few fire arrows, effectively angering the Nevermore and getting its attention. I followed up and drew my Anivia's Talons in both hands, rearing my right arm back, I threw my blade toward the giant Grimm.

Even with my corrosive blade, it only made a few shallow cuts along the Nevermore's body before returning to me, still running to my left with Allix following close behind. We continued our assault as Skyla and Rex drew closer to the beast, flanking it from the right.

* * *

><p><strong>Skyla POV<strong>

Rex and I were a few yards away now, the giant bird thing was still distracted by the constant barrage of arrows and boomerangs coming from Xera and Allix. I turned toward Rex, giving him a nod and then we charged.

My swords in hand, I focused on the ribbons attached to their hilts, pushing a lot of my aura into them as I ran. _"This is gonna use a lot of aura."_ I shot my ribbons toward the beast just as it was spreading its wings, ready to take flight. Tangling it and taking hold of its body with my ribbons, I yelled, "Rex, attack now before it breaks free!"

Rex followed up and leaped into the air, rearing his ax over his head ready to bring it down onto the Nevermore's neck. The blade connected with its target, but it wasn't enough to sever the head of the beast. While Rex reared back for another strike, the Nevermore thrashed around and slipped out of my make shift prison, swinging its wing towards Rex and sending him flying straight back into me.

We collided and were sent backward a few feet. _"Ow, I feel like I was just hit by a truck."_ I groaned in pain as I got to my feet.

The Nevermore, taking advantage of its now freed wings, took flight and sent a barrage of sharp feathers toward us. I was still stunned by the impact and wasn't prepared to react fast enough.

Suddenly, Rex stood in front of me and swung his ax, batting away the incoming barrage.

"I got Skyla covered! You two try to bring that thing back to the ground!" Rex yelled as he spun his ax in a circle, efficiently creating a make shift shield.

* * *

><p><strong>Xera POV<strong>

I looked over to Allix and she nodded in silent understanding. She took aim and started shooting off more arrows, each one reaching its mark on the Nevermore.

_"Woah, she's accurate with that bow. It must have something to do with her semblance."_

I held both Annivia's Talons in each hand, looking up at the beast. _"Alright, time for a little fire power."_

I pushed a little aura into each blade, watching as they shifted and transformed in my hands. The swords retracted into two Model 1887 Shotguns (**MW2 Reference!**). I flipped the guns in my hands, priming the shotguns in mid-air, and effectively loading a corrosive round into the chamber of each weapon. I took aim and started shooting off slug rounds, aiming for the Nevermore's wings.

"Nice transformation function, I'll have to ask you about that later." Allix said, noticing my change in weaponry.

We both attacked the flying beast, sending slugs and arrows up into the sky. Allix aimed for the eyes, accurately lining up her shots, and letting loose two arrows. Both of them were launched and aimed perfectly, finding their mark easily and blinding the giant bird.

"Alright! It's coming down guys, it's your turn now!" I yelled, noticing the Nevermore flailing around before beginning to crash back down into the clearing.

* * *

><p><strong>Skyla POV<strong>

"Kay! Thanks Xera and Allix, were ready for when that thing lands!" I yelled back, noticing that Rex was ready as well.

The Nevermore crashed into the dirt with a lot more force that I predicted, shaking the ground at its sudden impact.

"Buy me some time Skyla, I might have enough aura for my attack now!" Rex said, kneeling down on one knee and focusing on drawing out more aura.

I nodded and charged at the downed bird, swinging my swords across its back, scratching at the surface of its body but barely dealing any damage at all. _"This thing's tough, maybe I can crush its wings to buy a little more time."_ With that thought, I wrapped the Nevermore's wings in a death grip from my ribbons after pulsing a lot of my left over aura into them.

Hearing bones start to shatter and the wing's shapes began to crumble, I knew it was working, but not for long. The giant bird started thrashing around in pain, trying to shake me off its back. I was thrown back toward Rex, hitting the ground hard as I rolled toward the now red eyed guy.

"Alright, everyone get back, I have just enough for one over-charged bolt!" Rex yelled, now flooding himself in rage and glowing a light blue.

A high pitched sound echoed through the air as the crossbow started to glow brighter. The sound got louder and louder, over-charging his attack and ready to fire. "Now!" Rex roared as he pulled the trigger.

***KA-BOOM!***

Immediately the forest was flooded with a blue light, and a beam of pure energy was released from Rex's crossbow, followed by a thunderous explosion of sound that echoed through the trees. In an instant, the blue light covering the surrounding leaves faded, and the sound subsided and it grew silent.

I looked over toward the Nevermore, scorched and smoldering where it lay in a pile of ash and feathers. "Nice job Rex! You got him!" I cheered as I glanced back toward the tall guy.

My face paled as I noticed him sprawled out on the ground, passed out but still breathing.

Xera and Allix made their way over to him as well, I must have looked freaked out because Xera quickly stated, "Don't worry, Rex just used up almost all of his remaining aura, if not all of it, he just needs time to recover. Trust me, he's going to be fine."

With that, Allix and Xera lifted Rex up off the ground, putting each arm over their shoulders. "Skyla, carry Rex's ax, it's time we get back to Beacon now." He said with a reassuring smile.

I nodded and grabbed the ax, _"Holy crap, this thing's heavy!"_ I struggled a bit, but we set off in the direction of Beacon's Cliffs, but I stopped for a second as I noticed a shadow peeking out from behind one of the bordering trees. Just as I looked over to it, the shadow vanished and disappeared. _"Huh, must have been another student. Oh well, time for some ice cream back at Beacon to celebrate!"_

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><p><strong>Oooooo, spooky. I wonder who the shadow could be. So yea, I loved the animation of the Model 1887's from MW2, and I decided to have a little fun with another function to Xera's boomerangs. Oh, and if your wondering about Allix's bow, it will be further explained soon, and as for Skyla's weapons. . . they look like normal swords with ribbons attached to the hilts, but you should know that nothing is ever as simple as it looks now is it? Well, I hope you guys enjoyed part 2 of initiation. I tried to make a fight scene, or what is 'supposed' to be a fight scene, let me know what I can improve on in the future. Anyway, favorite and follow, and as always, have a nice life!<strong>


	9. Team XSRA!

**Hey, Xera here. Just wanted to give a little shout out to Redret, my first reviewer! Yea, celebration, anyway it actually means a lot to know someone took the time to review and even pitch an idea, a certain 'ship' to be exact. So, here's chapter 9, written by the one and only Sky!**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 9: Team XSRA! (Pronounced Sahara)<p>

**Skyla's POV**

I quickly ran over to the four beds in excitement and leaped into the one in the corner and felt myself bounce as I landed. I giggled loudly.

"I can't believe we're a team!" I squealed loudly hugging one of the pillows.

"Skyla calm down. It's just a room" Xera said taking a seat on the bed on the far end.

"It's not just the room!" I gasped. "We're a team! An actual team!" I announced as Allix and Rex walked in.

"That's right. Us, Allix, Xera, Skyla and me. One big happy family!" Rex said in a booming voice.

"So we have a few more days until classes begin. What do you want to do?" Xera asked.

"Ummm….."Allix began before Rex interrupted her. "Magic!" he wiggled his fingers around with a goofy grin on his face.

I burst into laughter at the sight.

Xera smiled as he pulled out a deck of cards from his bag, "I have a few magic tricks up my sleeve"

Xera soon began to shuffle the cards while standing in the middle of the room. He did some fancy card flips and what not. Finally, he walked over to Rex and held out all the cards. "Pick a card"

"WAIT!" I shouted before Rex could even lift his arm. They all looked at me expectantly.

"I wanna!" I said running over to Xera and grabbed all the cards.

"Skyla wha-" I shushed him and sat down in front of Allix and began to pass some cards out in a cirle making two piles. I put the rest of the cards down and faced Allix with a stern look. "Got any threes?"

Allix shook her head with a smile before taking a look at her cards. "Go Fish"

Xera and Rex walked away and went on to do their own thing. Rex picked up a guitar and began playing a soft melody while Xera was busy writing in a journal on his bed.

"Got any fives?" Allix asked.

"Nope. Go fish"

"Got any sevens?"

"No" she said quickly.

Everyone was enjoying the nice music made from Rex the one person who keeps surprising us with his skills.

It was nice and peaceful…Well was.

"XERRAAAAA!" I shouted standing.

"ALLIX CHEATED! SHE CHEATED! SHE HAS A SEVEN!" I shouted throwing my cards down.

Allix shrugged and started to stack all the cards into one pile.

"SHE CHEATED SHE CHEATED! I DEMAND A REMATCH!" I shouted again stomping my foot like a five year old.

Xera briefly glanced my way. "Allix, did you cheat?"

"She didn't ask what kind of seven she wanted"

"See Skyla, no harm done. Just a misunderstanding" He said going back to writing in his tiny journel.

I stuck my tongue at him and jumped onto my bed and face planted into the soft pillows. "I'm bored" my voice was muffled by the pillow.

Rex stopped playing the guitar. "Then do something"

I sat up quickly. "Can we get ice cream?"

"Ah no. I think you had enough ice cream for one day"

"Sooo…." I drew out, "Tomorrow then?"

Allix rolled her eyes and walked towards Rex holding a delicious looking pie that made my mouth water.

"Forget ice cream! I want that pie!" I thought.

"Hey Rex I made you this pie!" Allix said holding it out to the large man.

He sniffed it and grinned. "Mmm smells delicious! What kind?" he asked ready to grab the pie.

"Walnut and strawberry"

Rex suddenly froze and had a scrunched up face like he was deep in thought. Honestly, he looked constipated.

In a blink of an eye, he had grabbed the pie and threw it out the window screaming, "I HATE WALNUTS!" I rushed over to the window just in time to see the pie hit the side of the face of a blond boy and a Spartan looking red headed girl training down below.

"Is that…pie?" the red headed Spartan asked looking at the shocked blond.

"Oops" Rex said looking at the two.

I burst into laughter at the sight and fell to the ground clutching my stomach. Tears were streaming down my face and my sides hurt from all the laughing. I wiped the tear from my eye and look back out the window. "Man was that good!"

"I really wanted to eat that pie" Xera said pocketing the journal to look at the damage we had caused.

"Too slow!" I said sprinting towards the door.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

I was half way out the door when I replied, "IM RETRIEVING THE PIE!"

"WHAT?!" They all said as they watched me tumble down the stairs and straight towards the blond still frozen with half his face covered in white and brown frosting.

I stopped in front of him with a wide grin. "hi"

Xera and Rex were faster and quickly grabbed me before I could ask for the pie back. They dragged me back to the dorm before setting me down on the bed and they all circled around me giving me a stern look.

Awwkkwwaaarrddd.

"DO YOU WANNA GO GET SOME ICE CREAM!?" Rex sang at the top of his lungs off key making the walls shake. I covered my ears along with Xera and Allix.

"YES I WANT TO GET SOME ICE CREAM!" I sang as well standing on the top of my bed.

"OKKKK GOOOOO!" He sang as he fell to the floor in an overly dramatic death.

"I wiiinnnn!" I said in a high pitched voice.

"You guys are so immature" Xera said shaking his head.

"I know right" Allix said crossing her arms. I chuckled and titled my head at her with a goofy grin plastered on my face.

These people are strange beings but I'm lucky to have them as a team. They're easy to talk to and are fun to be around. This is going to be a fun year. I hope we never fade apart over the years….

My thoughts were interrupted when Rex suddenly sang out, "Lunnccchh tiimmeee losers!"

We all ran out of the room and towards the lunch room where we sat at our table. I pulled out my fruit salad and began eating. Xera was eating an apple, Rex was eating a ton of meat and Allix was eating fudging salad!

"How can you enjoy salad?!"

I asked, grimacing as the site of the 'so called' food sitting in front of Allix.

"Oh come on Skyla, it's not as bad as you think." Allix said while offering me a fork full of green garbage. "EW EW EW EW EW EW!" I reared back, almost falling off of my seat as I regained my balance.

Xera and Rex just continued eating their lunch, trying to ignore our little dispute over tasteless leaves.

"I kind of like salad, its healthy, its light, and you don't have to prepare much if you want to eat some." Allix defended as she took another bite. _"How can she eat that? The stuff is literally leaves…green…chewy…leaves, and are those tomatoes?!"_

"I agree with Allix on this one, sorry Skyla." Xera chimed in, now interested on taking a side in this war. "I'm taking Skyls's side on this one Xera, meat is clearly more superior than salad can ever be." Rex said between bites of his rather large pile of chicken wings.

"Ha! At least Rex understands where I'm coming from." I beamed a smile toward my silver haired teammate.

"Glad I can be of help, but it's still a tie. Its 2v2 right now and I don't see a tie breaker." He informed, giving me a small smile as he did so.

"He's right, were right back where we started." Allix said after she finished her 'meal'.

"You know what this means guys!" I stated, a wide grin plastered across my lips. Rex looked at me quizzically and Allix gave me a confused stare, I turned toward Xera and he mouthed the words, '_Please don't say it'._ I simply smiled even wider and turned back to the confused partners.

"Oh no, she's gonna say it." Xera murmured, looking back down at his food with a fearful expression.

"THIS…MEANS…WAR!" I cheered as I stood triumphantly on the table, an apple in hand at the ready for any signs of enemy retaliation.

Xera sat still as stone staring directly at me with a blank face and so Did Rex, frozen in the eating position. "She took my apple…I was gonna eat that." Xera spoke with disappointment in his voice.

Allix started chewing on her 'meal' making me spin her way.

"ENEMY SIGHTED!" I shouted throwing the apple at the salad making Allix recoil back.

"Ouch! Skyla!" Allix cried out nursing her hand. "This is my arrow hand"

I grabbed the plate full of tasteless green leaves and bundled it up into a bowl and tossed it towards the trashcan successfully making it in. "Enemy defeated" I grabbed one of Rex's chicken wings and handed it to Allix. She didn't look too pleased considering she took the chicken wing and threw it at my face. I frowned as it slid off my cheek.

"Oh it is on!"

* * *

><p><strong>Hai people! It's Sky…again. So yeah you learned one more thing about Skyla and that is that she hates salad. So…I was told to put an author's note after my chapter and I have no idea what to put now so ummm that's it? K Byyyeeee! <strong>


	10. Big Bird Show Down

XSRA's Flame Chapter 10: Big Bird Show Down

**Skyla POV**

"_Uh oh…"_

Allix stood there glaring at me about throwing her food away. "To my defense, Allix, salad is not a food." I said shrugging my shoulders while staring at the mess we left.

She remained quiet but her glare never left its intensity which sorta scared me at the moment considering this is me she's glaring at.

"Hehe." I said.

"Salad is a food." she muttered.

"_Oh heck naw!" _

I glared at her and she replied with another glare. We stood there glaring at one another for a while with Xera and Rex sitting back and watching.

"Stop, please stop!" A pleading voice broke the glare battle between Allix and me.

I looked over to see Cardin, leader of team CRDL and biggest jerk of all time. "It's only been a few days since the semester started, and I already hate that guy." Rex muttered after noticing him as well.

"Velvet doesn't deserve to be treated like that, there's nothing wrong with faunus." Allix stated, almost sounding depressed.

"Yea, I think her bunny ears are actually really cute! Besides, she can take care of herself when she wants to, she _did_ make it into beacon after all." I cut in, hopefully lightening the mood a bit.

Rex went back to eating his chicken, although he still looked a little frustrated, and Allix pulled out a book to hopefully distract herself from the noise of laughing and taunts. "_Xera hasn't stopped glaring at Cardin since he first heard the them."_

"Xera." I spoke, trying to get his attention. He continued glaring, not hearing his name.

"Xera!" I spoke up, still no response.

"XERRRRA!"

He jumped at the sudden outburst and turned toward me. "Sorry, I didn't hear you."

"_His eyes are red, really bright red, I wonder why they keep changing colors?"_ I thought to myself, and then refocused on Xera.

"Are you okay, you were glaring at 'Big Bird' over their like you were trying to burn him with your eyes?"

Xera couldn't help but give a small smile at my new nickname for Cardin, but it immediately vanished when he spoke up again.

"I'll be fine, I just can't stand people who think its ok to bully the faunus for no good reason at all."

Xera clenched his fists as another "Please stop" sounded through the room. He turned back toward Bird Boy and his goons surrounding Velvet, muttering through clenched teen "If no one does anything about that in the next 5 seconds, I will go over there and shove a gravity round into his face."

"Xera, it's not worth it, don't even bother with that guy." Allix spoke up now looking over the top of her book at Xera.

"Yea, there's no point in violence in a situation like this, it will only lead to more violence." I said, trying to stop Xera from doing anything reckless.

"_Rex still looks as frustrated as Xera, I doubt he's going to try and stop him at all."_ I thought after noting Rex's silence.

"Please let go of my ears, it hurts."

"_Oh no, that probably just set Xera off."_ I looked back toward Xera but he was already walking toward Cardin with clenched fists.

He walked up to the group and just pushed his way into the middle where Velvet was standing with her ear still in Cardin's grasp.

"Let her go Cardin." Xera spoke through clenched teeth, trying to hold back his anger.

"Hahahaha, and what are you going to do about it scrub? You gonna try and defend this dumb animal?" Cardin declared, still not letting go of Velvet's rabbit ear.

"Cardin. Let. Her. Go." Xera said, still glaring daggers at 'Big Bird'.

"Why are you defending this 'thing'? It's an animal, she probably snuck her way into beacon anyway." Cardin retaliated, still not letting go.

Xera's eyes flashed a brighter red and clenched his fists even tighter, if that's even possible. "Velvet, don't move."

In the span of 4 seconds, all of team CRDL was on the ground, clenching different parts of their body. Dove was holding his leg which was oddly bent, and Russel gripped his throat and dry heaving, probably from a quick jab to the wind pipe. Sky was on his knees buckled over and clutching his stomach from a blunt kick, and lastly, Cardin was on his back holding his face, blood pouring from a broken nose.

They were all groaning in pain, but something was off, something didn't seem right. _"Xera didn't even move he's still standing in front of Velvet, not even lifting a finger or even glancing at any of the downed bullies!"_

"_That was freaking awesome! Like it was almost as if someone attacked them and were invisible while Xera stood there! Or Xera has super-duper speed that he moves so fast that we couldn't see it! Or…or…he beat them up with his mind"_

Xera turned his head toward Velvet, now with a warm smile, "Come on Velvet, go sit with my team over there, you're welcome to sit with us any time you want." He spoke with a comforting tone.

"Really?" She asked, not used to this kind treatment.

Velvet looked toward us as Xera pointed at our table. I gave her a wave and smiled. Allix waved too, and Rex gave her a nod with a kind smile.

Xera put his hand on her shoulder and said in a reassuring tone, "Of course, now go meet my friends, they're really nice people when you get to know them."

"Ha, you're not off the hook Velvet, just wait until tomorrow." Cardin spat through a nasally voice, still trying to stop the blood coming from his nose.

All of a sudden, Cardin jerked and gasped for air, buckling over and clutching his stomach. Almost as if someone stomped on him.

"_What just happened? Xera still didn't even move, how did Cardin get hit again?"_ I thought with wide eyes, still watching to see if Xera makes a move.

"No Cardin, you're done messing with Velvet. If I see you bullying her again, don't expect me to leave you alive and breathing." Xera stated, now glaring at Cardin again.

Velvet now had watery eyes as she gave Xera a hug, he returned the gesture and nodded his head in our direction.

Someone started to clap and pretty soon, the entire cafeteria was roaring with applause and hollers. Xera's face turned red as he looked around at all the people applauding. He turned and walked out of the cafeteria, trying to avoid all the attention.

"_Why is Xera leaving, he's literally a hero now."_ I thought as he left.

"Now _THAT_ was definitely worth it." Rex finally commented as he watched his friend leave.

"I have to admit, I'm feeling a lot better now that Cardin and his team were finally stopped, but I'm still not sure what happened to them." Allix jumped in, still thinking about how Xera was able to beat up team CRDL without even moving.

"_I need to ask him about that later, I have to know how he did it."_ I was pulled out of thought when team CRDL got up and started rushing in the direction Xera went.

"Oh no, they're going after him." I took off down the hallway, chasing after the students who were looking for revenge.

Allix, Rex, and even Velvet followed me, all of us ran after the group. We stopped at the entrance to a courtyard.

My eyes widened as I saw Xera surrounded by Cardin and his goons. All of them holding their weapons and ready to gang up on him.

I was about to rush in when Rex put his arm in front of me, blocking my path. "Wait."

"Skyla, take a good look at Xera, tell me what you see." Allix said gesturing toward my partner surrounded on all sides.

I took a closer look at Xera, focusing on his face and noticed something, my eyes widened as realization struck me. "He's completely calm, he doesn't even look fazed!" I exclaimed after turning toward my teammates.

"Hey scrub, those were some pretty cheap shots you pulled back there, too bad we're prepared this time. There's no way you can survive all 4 of us at the same time." Cardin taunted with a smirk across his bloody face.

"Yea!" "Right boss!" Dove and Russel declared.

Xera still didn't respond, but his red eyes started to glow a little, giving off a light red hue. Still paying no attention to his ambushers, Xera pulled out a small book and started…reading?!.

"_He's reading, he's freakin reading even though he's surrounded by lethal weapons and angry faces!"_ I stared wide eyed and confused at his actions.

"Pft, you aren't even going to fight back? Fine with me, you'll regret that after I'm done with you." Cardin sneered and took a step forward, ready to slam his mace down onto Xera.

***BOOOM!***

I flinched at the sudden noise, and turned toward the fight only to see Cardin take flight face first into a stone pillar.

"What the…" My eyes went wide as I saw Xera now holding Anivia's Talon in shotgun form, still pointing at where Cardin's face used to be in front of him.

"He just shot Cardin point blank in the face with a gravity round." Rex exclaimed shocked by what just happened.

"Actually that's not correct. A normal gravity round wouldn't be that powerful." Allix chimed in.

Rex and I turned toward Allix wondering what she meant.

"Xera used an aura infused, gravity dust buck shot, and he has another round already loaded. Take a look." She informed.

I turned back just as Xera drew his second Anivia's Talon. He took aim unbelievably fast and unleashed two more shots into Dove and Russel.

Xera flipped his guns and primed the next slugs as the two students sped through the air, straight into opposite walls of the courtyard.

Finally recovering from his shock, Sky charged Xera's back as he finished reloading. Xera sensed the attack and ducked under Sky's wide swing of his weapon, creating an opening. Xera took the opening instantly and pressed both barrels against Sky's back.

Sky froze in place after he felt both guns press up against him, "No wait, I surrender, alright? I give. I was just following my boss's lead." He blurted out, trying to save himself from a world of pain.

"If I see you or your teammates bully Velvet again or attack anyone like you did just now, I won't hesitate to use lethal dust slugs next time." Xera spoke, still a little frustrated. "Do we have a deal?"

Sky nodded frantically, "Yes, yes, deal. We won't bully Velvet or gang up on anyone from now on. I promise." Sky stuttered, looking like he was gonna pass out at any moment.

"Good, a few nurses will be here any minute and take your teammates to the infirmary." Xera stated.

Right as he said that, Xera holstered his weapons and walked toward us.

"How do the nurses know about this already?" I asked, still a little shocked.

Xera only smirked, giving me an amused look, "I called it in when I noticed them following me, and I kinda figured they would need medical treatment if they planned on attacking me."

"Woah, not gonna lie but I'm a little impressed right now." Rex stated.

"Yea, I'm happy that you didn't lethally hurt any of them and you still got the point across." Allix chimed in.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" I yelled, happy that 'Big Bird' and his goons got what they deserved.

"Come on, let's head back to lunch, you come too Velvet." Xera said while gesturing us to follow him.

Xera was greeted like a hero when he walked back into the cafeteria, everyone turning their attention to him and cheering his name.

"Yea! Xera, you're a hero and everyone is gonna look up to you now!" I yelled, happy to see that everyone appreciated what he did for Velvet.

"On second thought, you guys go on ahead. I think I forgot something in the courtyard." Xera stated while sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"Oh no you don't! You're going to enjoy the spotlight whether you like it or not!" Rex exclaimed while pushing Xera toward our table, cheering "Let's hear it for XERA!"

I couldn't help but giggle at Xera's attempt to get past Rex and avoid all the attention.

"Why are you so embarrassed Xera? You're literally a hero now, why try and avoid the attention?" Allix asked, covering her amused smile with the book she was carrying.

"I just don't like being the center of attention guys. It's just something I don't like." He answered still embarrassed by the constant praise he was receiving.

"Well, too bad for you because you're not getting out of it." Rex stated while lifting Xera up onto his shoulders, completely against his will.

"_Yup, I love my team."_ I thought while watching Rex embarrass Xera even more. _"Don't ever change guys."_

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><p><strong>Yea, Cardin gets beat up! So, a few hints about Xera's Semblance, which will be revealed in the next chapter. Anyway, follow and favorite, leave a review and have a nice life!<strong>


	11. City of Vale

**Sooooooo...yeah. Been two weeks, really unexpected break but we're back. We just had to work out a few plot things and make a few decisions. Anyway, sorry about that. Here's Chapter 11, brought to you by Sky!**

* * *

><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 11: City of Vale<p>

**Skyla POV**

"Yo team XSRA!" I called into the room where Xera, Rex, and Allix were chilling in and doing boring stuff. Xera was still writing in his journal, Rex was playing guitar, and Allix was reading.

Rex broke a guitar string from the sudden interruption, Allix dropped her book and Xera simply glanced my way, still writing in his little book.

"What now Skyla?"

I extended my arms and exclaimed, "We're going to Vale!"

Rex was busy trying to find a new guitar string but still managed say, "Sure, why not?"

"It is a Saturday, so we have the whole day to ourselves." Allix agreed.

Xera just shrugged and started getting out of his bed.

"Wait, before we go, I've been meaning to ask something." Allix cut in while putting her book away.

"Ok Allix, shoot."

"Well, ever since Xera took on team CRDL, I've been wondering how he did it."

"I am a little curious about that too, just never wanted to ask." Rex joined in, still rummaging through one of his bags.

"I thought about that too! So…Xera…What's your secret?" I asked pointing an accusing finger at him.

Xera looked at everyone, all staring at him with expecting faces. He sighed and admitted defeat.

"Alright, since you asked about it, I will tell you my secret. You see, it all has to do with my semblance."

I grew even more eager and waited for him to continue.

"Well, I call it Deception. I'm able to cast a hologram of myself for 5 seconds, and at the same time, I turn invisible and untraceable for those 5 seconds. I can then reposition or strategically retreat."

"Ooooo, so you can do sneak attacks or run away?" I interrupted.

Xera glanced at me and sighed, "In other words, yes Skyla, and it is very fun to do so. But…there is a drawback to my ability."

"And…there's the but I was waiting for." Rex said, currently attaching a new string to his guitar.

"While I'm invisible, I can't channel any aura or use any aura at all, that will break the illusion early and make the hologram disappear. It takes a little aura to even use Deception as well." Xera explained.

"That sounds SO COOL!" I yelled, excited to know my friend is a super ninja.

"That does sound tactical." Allix stated.

"Dude. You have to show us your semblance in action, but after we head down to Vale." Rex added.

"Alright, let's go."

* * *

><p><em>-Minutes later-<em>

"EEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK WE'RE IN VAAAALEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" I squealed loudly looking around at the stores.

"You're excited. "

"I know right!"

Rex and Allix were off searching for food for the rest of us while Xera and I wondered around aimlessly.

Xera suddenly walked off as we passed a pair of familiar people. I glanced at them and my eyes widened.

"Nora! Ren!" I shouted running over to them excitedly.

"Skyla! Xera!" Nora shouted back hugging me. I laughed loudly as Xera and Ren exchanged a wave.

"Didn't realize you two would be here" Ren said. "Who's on your team?" He added.

"We have Rex Tyro and Allix Stowe. You'll love them when they get here. What about you?"

Ren smiled. "I have Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos"

"Ohhhh they sound interesting"

We chatted for a while laughing at jokes Nora told.

Xera suddenly stopped and was staring off into the crowd. _"Jeez, he looks like he just saw a ghost."_

"Hey, Xera. You alright?"

"Hmmm…oh, I-I'm fine Skyla."

"You don't look fine, what's wrong?" _"His eyes are red, I have to remember what each color means."_

"It's nothing, I just thought I saw someone."

"Hey you guys coming or what?!" Nora yelled, flagging us down.

"Yea, wait up guys were coming!" Xera yelled back.

We settled at a café for a bit, Nora and I drank iced coffees and Xera and Ren settled for a cup of hot coffee and a cinnamon bun. I drank my coffee silently watching Xera and Ren talk about things and other things oh and did I mention they talked about things?

Mainly about weapons and their names. Personally, I didn't find a name for my swords.

"Yeah mine are called Anivia's Talons." Xera said gently patting the two boomerangs on his back like a father to a young son.

"MINE ARE CALLED THUNDER AND LIGHTNING!" I interjected standing proudly showing off my swords.

"But Skyla, last battle you shouted, Sapphire and Rose, do your thing!" Xera said interrupting my gleeful pose. I sunk back into my seat and pouted. "I haven't found a name yet." I mumbled.

Nora laughed loudly and patted my back gently. "It's alright Skyla. I didn't find a name until later after my friends did! It'll come to you soon. I promise." I smiled at her and continued sipping on my iced coffee which was starting to water down making a foul taste in my mouth. I stared at the cup with distain secretly wondering if I should throw it away but I seriously think my concentrating face looks like I'm constipated and can't poop.

"What are you thinking about?" Xera asked eyeing me suspiciously.

"How did you know I was thinking?"

"You looked constipated."

"oh…"

I got up and walked over to the trash can to throw it away when someone popped up to my side screaming. "NO DON'T THROW THAT AWAY! YOU MURDERER!" They quickly ran away out of my sight. I stood there dumbfounded before glancing out the window and nearly squealed.

There walking across the street was Allix and Rex.

I ran out the store and waved frantically at the two making a big fool out of myself.

"ALLLIXXXX…REXXX…OVER HERE!" I shouted doing what reminded me of a monkey dance. They saw me and immediately laughed before jogging over to the small coffee shop. I lead them to our table where Ren, Xera, and Nora were happily chatting.

I cleared my throat gaining their attention. "Nora, Ren meet my other team mates Allix and Rex." I gestured to each person and sat down. I noticed Allix's gaze never left Ren.

"_Ohhhh does someone have a crushy wushy" _I thought squeezing my cheeks together.

"Umm…Skyla you okay there?" Rex asked waving a hand over my face. I blinked a few times and looked at him.

"You kinda squished up your face there."

I turned a tomato red and hid my face in embarrassment while everyone else laughed it off.

Ren stood and waved someone over and sat down. "Now it's time for you to meet my team."

"Team JNPR!" Nora exclaimed in excitement.

Two people, a boy and a girl walked over and took a seat. Rex, Allix, Xera, and My eyes all widened upon realization of the two people. The girl had red hair and a Sparta look to her and the boy had blond hair.

I leaned close to Rex and whispered, "That's the guy you hit with pie."

He nodded and whispered back, "I know." our eyes never left the pair as they waved.

"What's wrong with you guys? You look like you've just witnessed a murder." Nora asked staring at us.

I pointed at the boy and waved. "What's your name?"

"Jaune and that's Pyrrha."

"Jaune…did you happen by chance be hit by a maybe this is a wild guess…a walnut and strawberry pie while you were training?" I asked.

Jaune and Pyrrha's eyes widened.

"Yea….I did. How did you know?" He asked growing suspicious.

"IT WAS REX'S FAULT!" Allix and I shouted at the same time pointing at the boulder beside me.

"Nu huh! Allix did it!"

"Did not."

"So…. You guys were the ones who threw a pie out the window and hit us in the face while we were training?" Pyrrha asked.

"It wasn't on purpose. Rex hates walnuts."

"Indeed."

"And I made him a pie with walnuts and offered it. I didn't know he hated the nut so when he saw it, he threw it and you two just so happenly were below us…training…." Allix trailed off.

"Bad luck Jaune."

"I know..."

_"I looked at the time and thought fir a bit contenting if I should go pee or not. _

_Do I?_

_Nah._

_Wait maybe I do._

_….._

_Yep I do._

_No wait wait….no I don't need to._

_…_

_I need to pee."_

"Excuse me." I said walking away towards the bathroom.

Behind me I heard them talking.

"Did you see her scrunching her face up every once in a while?"

"It's her thinking face"

"Cute right!"

"I'm adorable I know!" I said loud enough for them to hear before fully disappearing into the bathroom door.

That must have shut them up.

_"I am fabulous!" _

Once done, I walked out and greeted my people.

"So who wants to rob a bank?" I asked facing my crew.

They stared at me strangely like I was insane or crazy until they began to laugh.

"Nice one Skyla."

"You really had me going there!"

Now it was my turn to look at them dumbly. "What are you talking about? Im being serious here. I want to rob a bank!"

* * *

><p><em>-Few Minutes Later-<em>

We walked into a shop and watched as Xera and Rex looked over some guitars. Rex grabbed a guitar weighed it before plucking some stings. Even Xera grabbed one and tested it out. I soon grew bored after they had tested like a few more guitars. I shouldered Allix gently and pointed my head towards a set of drums.

We walked off as I sat behind the drums and Allix grabbed a mic.

"ONE TWO THREE!" I Shouted clicking the two drum sticks together before banging them on the drums wildly.

Allix starts singing a song I didn't know as I tried to match the beat with the drums.

"They see you as small and helpless. They see you as just a child."

The store manager soon came and kicked us both out. We waited grumpily for Xera and Rex to come out.

"I can't believe we were kicked out!" I pouted.

"I know! We totally rocked!"

"This store doesn't know music!"

Xera and Rex came out with guitars of their own and we went on to the next store! A library.

I groaned loudly at the first glance at it.

"Whyyyy?"

"For Allix."

Who…isn't here….

I walked in with the others as they all browsed the sections of books. Miles and miles of shelves packed with dusty old books containing boring words that would suck to be forced to finish.

I disappeared a short while later and when the group found me an hour later, I was sitting in front of a group of small kids with a childrens book in hand. I was in the middle of reading them a story of Castle Whites.

"And so the two small dwarves set off in the journey to find the stunning princess in hope she could once again bake the cookies she made before. They danced and wiggled throughout the forest singing the familiar tune of the dwarf song." I paused and glanced at the excited kid facess.

"Ready?" I whispered watching them nod in excitement.

"Ohhhhh we are dwarves. Setting on a journey." we started singing loudly off key.

After we had finished the story we left the library.

"So since we visited one store for Rex and I and another for Allix, Skyla where do you want to go?"

"The bank."

"Why?"

"To rob it."

"WHAT?!"

"Hahahahaha I'm kidding!" I laughed shaking my head at them. "Lets get some ice cream."

I skipped happily away towards the ice cream parlor where we all ordered a sundae and sat together and ate.

"So…" Rex began with a mouthful of chocolate syrup.

"Ewwww…..Rex! Swallow first!" Allix complained covering her eyes from the remaking of the sundae in his mouth.

He blushed and swallowed his food before continuing. Clearing his throat he began, "We should head back after this. Its getting dark."

We all nodded in agreement and continued to eat until it was all finished off.

"Well…before we do that…I still want to rob that bank."

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><p><strong>There you go. Oh and we have plenty of stuff planned for this story now and IT...WILL...BE...DRAMATIC! YEA!...I think...well it should be at least. Anyway, favorite, follow, review, tell Sky she's awesome...have a nice life!<strong>


	12. Targeted by an Old Friend

**Hiya, I think it's time to start adding a little plot to the story and introducing an unknown enemy. Do you guys remember that little scene in the last chapter? The one where Xera 'supposedly' saw a ghost in the middle of a crowd during the trip to Vale...yea that one! Admittedly the scene was a little subtle but it happened none the less. Keep that in mind when reading this new chapter. Anyway, Cya at the bottom!**

* * *

><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 12: Targeted by an Old Friend<p>

**Xera POV**

I waited for the rest of my team to fall asleep after our trip to Vale. Once I was sure they were far enough into the dream world, I quietly left the dorm room and started wondering around the halls of Beacon.

_"I saw him, I know it was him, there's no one else that it could have been. But I thought he died years ago. Gah…it's so frustrating, all these questions and no answers. Maybe a walk will clear my head."_ I thought as I continued down the dark corridors.

I found myself outside a tall wooden door, a name plate attached to a clouded glass window on the upper half. The name plate read, "_Head Master's Office"_.

_"I wonder if he's up right now. If anyone needs to know about this, it would be Ozpin."_

With that thought, I raised my fist and knocked it against the door three times. "Come In."

_"Good, he's awake."_

I turned the handle and opened the door, stepping inside the simple office. Ozpin sat at a fairly large desk, pushed back toward a large window behind him. There was a plant in the corner, two book shelves along the right wall, and multiple seats placed along the sides of the room and in front of his desk.

"Hello Xera, what do you need?" Ozpin questioned, casually folding his hands together and placing his chin on top of his interlaced fingers.

"There's something I need to tell you." I started. He gestured me to sit down and waited for me to continue.

I took a seat and breathed in a little, after releasing the air I turned toward the head master and said in a serious tone, "I saw him. He was in Vale, alive and well, and I think I know who's behind it."

Ozpin didn't look shocked, almost like he already knew about this fact. "I see. What are you going to do about his appearance?"

"That's the thing, I want to know what happened, why he's not dead, why he was gone for so long, I need to talk to him. We were close…he was like a brother to me. The least I can do is confront him."

"He may not be the one you once knew, his death was faked for a reason. And his sudden appearance only suggests that he's here for you…but not to have a conversation. I've known about a young man who appeared to match you're old friends appearance for a while now. I never had any solid images or descriptions but what I've found is that he is an assassin that has never let a target live. He also modifies his ammunition to match the aura signature of his target so that it can pass through any aura wall or shield that they produce for protection."

I shifted in my chair a bit, taking in all this information. "If what you're saying is true, then I need to figure this out fast. He may not still be my childhood friend, but I have a feeling that he's somewhere in there. If I can talk to him…maybe I can find out what happened and why."

Ozpin gave a small grin and sighed, "It appears that you're still as stubborn as ever Xera. So, what are you planning to do?"

"I'll figure it out, but until I do, I'll continue my studies here at beacon. After all, he hasn't made a move yet. I just hope he doesn't hurt my team. This is about me, not them."

"Alright, I trust you with this decision and expect that you don't wait too long. We both know why he's been waiting, and you don't want to wait until he makes his final modifications to match your aura signature, you will have no protection when that time comes." He got up from his chair and turned around, gazing out into the darkness of night. "You still have time, but not as long as you might think. Have a good night Xera, and good luck."

"Alright, thank you, and good night sir."

After I left the head master's office, I continued through the halls thinking through all the possibilities I could come up with.

_"Running isn't an option. There's always trying to find him, but tracking him is useless. He's like a ghost. He's in and out in a dark blur with only one shot, always reaching its mark. According to Ozpin, he has never failed a mission…ever. My team can't get involved, I don't need them getting hurt. I guess it's just up to me then, all I can do right now is prepare."_

I entered a large courtyard with a stone pathway leading around the edges, pillars supporting the overhanging roof above the perimeter. There was a large circle of stone bricks in the middle, and a pathway leading up to a large statue which stood in the center. The statue was of a huntsman and a huntress, staring off into the distance alongside a Grimm at their feet.

_"These two must have been important to get a statue built in their honor."_

I was still admiring the statue when the clicking of footsteps on stone echoed through the quiet atmosphere. A girl was running out of the entrance on the other side of the statue, it was the same girl I saw on the air ship a while back, during my first day at beacon. She still had that bow on her head too.

_"What's she doing up so late, and why is she running."_ I thought as I stood on the other side of the statue, wondering why she was up right now.

Quiet sobbing could be heard in the air as she approached the center of the courtyard. _"Is she…crying?"_ I thought to myself as I quietly approached her.

She looked up at the statue, amber eyes glistening in the moonlight. Her arm reached up above her head as she lightly tugged at one of the ends to her bow.

The girl's bow came undone and slid off her head, revealing a set of black cat ears. _"I knew it, the slight twitch of her bow on the air ship I saw before was definitely not my imagination."_

I approached her quietly, trying not to shock her in her current state.

"Are you okay?" I asked in a quiet tone.

She spun around fast, her cat ears flattened against her head in an attempt to hide them as she looked at me with wide eyes. This caused me to stop my approach. _"Alright, be gentle, take things slow and cautiously."_

"Do you mind if I come closer?" I questioned, clearly she wasn't okay.

The girl nodded and I walked up to her, still keeping a little distance to give her some space. "Do you want to talk about it, it might help?" I asked, still not taking my eyes off the glowing amber orbs in front of me.

"No…not really." She responded in a hushed tone, still unsure if I was friend or foe. _"Maybe if I activate my aura a bit, I might be able to calm her down a little."_

"It's alright, that's probably none of my business anyway, but if you need a friend, I'll be happy to help." I said in a comforting tone, releasing a little bit of aura. She relaxed a little as I took a step closer, releasing a little more aura to warm the atmosphere.

"We met before you know, back on the air ship. You were the one reading in the corner opposite from me." I stated, trying to converse a little and lighten the mood.

"Yea, I remember you. You were the one staring at me right?" She asked, catching me a little off guard.

"Oh, you saw that huh?" I sheepishly scratched the back of my head, breaking eye contact in the process. "Sorry, I was looking at the bow. I kinda figured you were wearing it for more than just fashion."

She smirked a bit after noticing me trying to hide a blush, "Are they that noticeable?" she asked, perking her ears up a little as she got more comfortable.

"Not really, I just happen to be observant enough to notice." I said, still a little sheepish but looking back at her. _"She's smiling, that's a good thing."_

"Alright, but why are you out here so late?" She asked, tilting her head to the side with a curious glint in her eyes. _"Wow, she really does look like a cat now that I think about it, it's actually kinda cute."_

"I was just taking a late night walk to let myself think a bit and cool off. Do you mind if I ask you the same question?"

"Well, I'm just trying to sort a few things out with my team, especially one person in particular."

She still looked at me curiously. It looked like she was trying to study me.

I looked down at my clothes, then back up at her. "What? Green is my favorite color. I didn't think I looked _that _bad." I said with an emphasis on 'that', trying to get her to smile more.

Her small smirk turned into a grin as she spoke, "No, you look fine. I was just wondering why I feel so comfortable around you." she said, still not taking her gaze away from my eyes. _"She was bound to notice eventually."_

"You noticed. Well I guess you were probably going to sense something eventually. And to answer your curiosity, I have an affinity toward fire. Which means I can use my aura and manipulate that element, people told me that it actually creates a soothing and comforting atmosphere as well. So, I figured it might help." I explained, hoping she doesn't ask how I actually have a relation to fire.

"I guess that makes sense, and those people are right, it does feel very soothing." She responded in a relaxed tone.

"Good. Hey, I never got your name by the way." I said, glad that's she's feeling better.

"It's Blake, Blake Belladonna. What's yours?"

"My name's Xera and I'm glad I was able to get you to relax a little. You look better without the bow by the way, but I can understand why you hide them."

"You seem really comfortable around faunus and you're very trusting with them, why?" Blake asked.

I paused for a second, trying to find the right words, "Let's just say, I grew up surrounded by them." I said.

"Why's that?" She responded, regaining her curious tone.

"Well, I was hoping you wouldn't ask but I can give an answer since I can probably trust you. You see…my mother was a faunus."

"What kind of faunus was she, and does that make you a faunus as well…if you don't mind me asking?"

"She's...not…the usual faunus, I'll leave it at that. And I'll leave the second part of that question for another time, but for now, I'll take my leave since you're feeling better."

She looked a little disappointed at my response but smiled anyway. "It was nice to meet you Xera. Maybe we'll see each other around again.

I smiled, knowing I made another friend. "Alright, I'll see you around Blake, and good night. I hope you can sort it out with your team, whatever it was, I'm sure they'll understand if you just talk to them about it."

I started walking away, back toward the entrance to the courtyard.

"Oh, and Blake?" I said, looking over my shoulder.

"Yea?"

"Say hi to that monkey faunus for me, he's been sitting on that lamp post over there listening to us." I stated, smiling a little knowing that the eaves dropper was probably really confused right now.

"Hey, how did you know I was up here?!" Said the shadow atop the light post.

"The banana gave you away, and like I said, I'm very observant. Good night to you both, and maybe I'll see you around as well." I responded, walking away from them.

I didn't need to look back, I knew Blake was probably surprised and slightly annoyed that she didn't notice him, and the monkey faunus was most likely wearing a confused and shocked expression.

_"Well…that went well. I wonder if I'll see Blake again later on, but for now…sleeeeeeeeeeep." _I thought as I approached the hallway leading to my dorm room.

I swiped my card and the door unlocked. Opening it as quietly as I could, I walked in silently and slid under the covers to my bed, letting sleep take over as I drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p><strong>Yea! Character development and stuff, plus some potential. I wonder what's the deal with Xera and his mother...could he possibly be a faunus...and what kind? Hmmmmmm...anyway, a lot of the unanswered actions and questions will eventually be answered in the future. Only time will tell. So, favorite, follow, review, the usual stuff. Cya later!<strong>


	13. Ancient Protectors

**Being sick is one of the most annoying things you can do, it sucks. Whatever you do...DON'T GET SICK! Anyway, who's ready for story time?**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 13: Ancient Protectors<p>

**3rd Person**

Two young boys sat in front of a woman, both thinking about the stories she tells and the adventures she talks about. Her name…was Leona, and like all mothers…she had a son. His name was Xera, the little boy awaiting the story that he has yet to be told. Standing next to him was his brother, technically he was adopted into the family at birth. They lived in a small cabin, deep within the woods and surrounded by trees. Night was eminent and stars appeared in the sky above.

"Have I ever told you about…the dragons?"

"Oooo, please tell us!" "Yeah, tell us the story!" Both boys ran over to Leona, who was sitting in her chair situated in front of the fireplace.

"Alright, alright, now sit still and listen up you two. Sometimes you're both too stubborn for your own good."

Both boys shifted, sitting cross legged in front of Leona. The fire place flickered and dimmed, creating an ambient atmosphere inside the wooden cabin. The sunset outside the window cast shadows upon the walls, beams of light glided across the floor as the sun sank into the horizon. Trees glimmered and swayed, awaiting the soon return of day, and standing their ground throughout the night.

"Now, you both know about the huntsman and huntress's responsibilities don't you?"

"They fight monsters." "Yeah, they protect us against the darkness."

"Well, do you know what the world was like before the hunters became the guardians that protected us? This story takes place before the hunters came to be, before we gained power, before we even existed."

"It all starts centuries ago. Back before human and the faunus roamed the Lands of Remnant, back in ancient times where the world bustled with beasts we can only imagine."

"Among those beasts reined a superior species, one of fire and strength, kings of the sky and leaders of the ancient beings, possessing eternal life and armor made of scales, beasts with wings as large as buildings and as sharp as blades. Their bodies were strong and noble, not daring to take advantage of the smaller beasts that lived among them."

"You see, these monsters were no Grimm, they had a soul and a will to protect those who needed guidance, those who couldn't protect themselves. They were the huntsmen of the ancient times, the protectors of Remnant, the Knights of Honor. These beasts were no monsters in the eyes of those around them, they were heroes…protectors, and they stood guard against the darkness. These ancient hunters…were the _dragons_."

"These dragons can live for a very long time, eventually surviving until the era of humans. It was at this moment when the Grimm infested lands and armies of feral beasts shifted their gaze upon a new target, the helpless new species that just entered this world…the_ humans_."

"War broke and battles raged, dragons fought to protect the humans from early extinction and defended the new age that would soon follow. The fire breathing beasts pushed back the dark beings…but at a grave price."

"The Grimm species are strong, soul-less beasts and are a force to be reckoned with. The dragons fought long and fierce battles, eventually falling to the fangs and claws of the darkness. Countless protectors died in this ancient war, giving their lives for those few humans that still lived."

"The Ancient War lasted for years, countless Grimm slaughtered, dragons slowly dwindling in numbers until one fateful day…only one remained. His name…was Vulderak. He was the king of the dragons, the strongest of all the ancient hunters, the last of the dragon race."

"He stood his ground against the endless waves of the darkness, fighting alongside the humans in a losing battle against an unbeatable foe. This was the final stand against extinction, this was when the ancient history ends…and the history of the human race begins."

"It was at this moment, this point in time…when fate changed. Underneath the ground, beneath where the last remaining dragon and humans stood, was something that would change the course of destiny, and start a new journey into a free world."

"There, buried in the ground, were endless veins of dust. Large cracks formed under the raging battle above, craters opening, and chunks of the land shifted, revealing a bright light that escaped the seams of the destroyed battlefield."

"Vulderak made one final stand and pushed back the Grimm just enough for the humans to jump into a deep crevice glowing red. At this moment, all time seemed to _stop_…the atmosphere changed and the sun broke through the endless dark clouds that engulfed the sky."

"The crevice glowed brighter, and out from the deep pit emerged the humans, now possessing red dust crystals of countless amounts. The humans unleashed the power contained in the chunks of dust and gained the upper-hand in this war, turning the tides in favor of a new future."

"And that…is where we come in, where our history starts and new hunters were born. We utilized the new found dust and kept the Grimm at bay. We built cities, civilizations emerged and new species like the faunus came to be. This was all thanks to the ancient protectors of this world. It was thanks to the _dragons_ that we are here today, alive and thriving in this time of peace."

"Woah." Young Xera muttered, amazement in his voice.

"How do you know so much about the dragons?" Asked the slightly older boy sitting next to Xera.

Leona gave a loving chuckle, "Well, would you boys believe me if I told you I met one?"

"What!?" "No way, but how? I thought they were all gone."

"Oh…you seem to have forgotten the one I told you about in the story. He stood at the peak of eminent destruction and fought alongside the humans."

"Vulderak? He's still alive?!"

"More than you know…now off to bed you two, it's getting late."

"Awwww." The two boys groaned in disappointment.

"Come on, let's go." Leona stood and led the boys to their room. It was a small, square space that contained a bunk bed and a small dresser. She tucked them in and gave each one a good-night kiss.

"Good-night you two, and sweet dreams, I love you both."

"Night mommy, love you." "Good-night mom, love you too."

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><p>-<em>Back to present time<em>-

**Xera POV**

The morning sunlight broke through the crack in the curtains of our dorm window, shining across my face as I slowly awoke from my dream. It was early in the morning and still the weekend, which means no classes until Monday.

_"Reliving my past in my dreams…I don't mind it. At least it wasn't the bad memories." _I thought as I shifted in my bed, refusing to open my eyes and give in to waking up.

"_It's the weekend. No need to get up so early. Sleeeeeeeeeeep."_

I was just about to drift off again when a small stone bounced off the glass of one of my dorm windows, the one closest to my bed.

_"What the-"_

***Clink***

Another rock was thrown at the window. My eyes shot open and I glanced around the room. Skyla was still fast asleep, snoring softly. Allix remained on her back and eyes closed, I'm only assuming she's still asleep. Rex was snoring loudly, a clear sign that he still remained in the dream world.

_"I'm not getting up. Not gonna do it-"_

***Clink***

_"Nope. Not moving-"_

***CLINK***

_"Nuh-uh. Still not getting up-"_

***CLINK!***

_"Oh for the love of-"_

***SMASH!***

A slightly bigger stone smacked against the glass, slightly cracking it as it bounced off.

_"Alright, alright, I'm coming."_

I got out of bed and approached my window. I glanced outside and saw the monkey faunus from the other night sitting on a tree branch outside my window, eating a banana with a stash of rocks piled next to him. He waved at me as I opened the window.

"What's with the rocks? And how did you know this was my window?" I asked in a quiet tone, trying not to wake my team.

"I didn't know where your dorm was. You have no idea how many windows I threw rocks at trying to find you. It was actually really hilarious seeing all the annoyed faces." The banana eating teen spoke, holding back his snickering at the last sentence.

"Alright, but why did you need me?" I asked.

"Right…Blake wanted me to come get you and meet her at a café down in Vale. So you coming or what?"

"Okay, just…give me a few minutes to change and grab some things. I'll meet you outside."

I shut the window and grabbed my usual clothes. I also grabbed Annivia's Talons just in case.

_"I wonder why Blake wants me to tag along, I only just met her and I barely know her. I guess it's worth going along, maybe I can learn more about her that way."_ I thought as I changed and strapped my blades to my back.

I reopened the window and stepped out onto the window-sill, quietly closing the window behind me. I turned and jumped into the tree, climbing my way down to the ground where the monkey faunus stood.

"Do you know why Blake wants me to tag along?" I asked, now walking next to the banana lover.

"No clue and the name's Sun. Sun Wukong."

"Nice to meet you Sun, I'm Xera."

"Cool name, so…about the other night, how did my banana give me away?"

"Oh…right. You see, bananas make me sick so I trained myself to be able to sense the fruit if it's somewhere near me. It actually has a very distinct odor."

"That makes sense…but how can you hate bananas?!"

"It's not that I hate them, it's the fact that my body can't handle them."

"Oh, well do you mind if I eat one on our walk to the air ships?"

"I don't mind, just as long as the smell isn't too strong, but you have to ditch it before we get on the air ship. There's no way I'm sitting anywhere near you if you bring it onboard."

"Okay, sheesh. I was going to finish it before we got on anyway." He responded, holding up his hands as if he was defending himself.

Sun was almost finished with his banana as we approached Beacon's air ships, ready to lift off and bring early passengers into Vale. We reached the boarding dock and Sun deftly tossed the remains of his snack into a trash bin across the walkway.

"Alright, time to go meet up with Blake and see what's up." I stated as we boarded the vessel bound for Vale.

The trip to the city wasn't very eventful. I sat by a window and listened to music while Sun played with his tail the entire ride. We soon descended and landed at our destination. The doors opened and we strolled out across the walkway, heading toward the city streets that stretched before us.

"Where's the café Blake wants to meet at?" I asked, glancing into store windows as we walked down the sidewalks of Vale.

"It should be just around the corner…ah! Here we are!" Sun proclaimed as we stepped into a small café. We walked up the stairs after ordering a few drinks. I ordered a hot coffee and Sun got himself some tea. At the top of the stairs was a door that leads out onto a balcony, which looked like an outdoor eating place with all the extra round tables and chairs placed around with a few customers idly chatting and drinking.

At one of the end tables close to the railing sat Blake, sipping tea as she read a book in front of her. We walked up to her and took our seats. Sun grabbed a chair from an empty table and sat across from the cat-faunus while I took a seat in between the two.

"So, you found him." Blake spoke up, putting away her book.

"Yup! Wasn't easy, but nothing's too difficult for me!" Sun exclaimed, clear pride eminent in his voice.

"Why did you have him find me anyway?" I questioned, still wondering why I'm here.

"Well, I never really explained myself the other night. So, I thought you'd want to know something after helping me. And Sun over there won't stop bothering me so I might as well tell you both at the same time." She explained, giving Sun an annoyed look.

"See! That's all I got out of you for the past day or so. Just simple answers and weird looks, but at least you're going to say something more now that _he's_ here." Sun responded, gesturing his tea cup at me as he spoke.

"You said you wanted to know more about me? Well here it is. Have you ever heard of the White Fang?" Blake started.

Sun placed his cup down and answered, "You mean those thieves who are giving us faunus a bad name. Yeah, if you ask me…their just a bunch of idiots."

I looked at Sun as he was taking another sip of his tea and cut in, "Nah, I just think they're a bunch of misguided faunus. Besides…you just called Blake an idiot."

Sun spit out what ever liquid was in his mouth and stared at me shocked and confused, "What?!"

"Xera's right, I used to be involved with the White Fang. You could even say I was born into it." Blake said in a mellow tone.

Sun put down his cup again and I turned my attention to Blake, waiting for her to continue.

"The White Fang used to be peaceful, they would protest and try to gain equality. I was there for every protest, I was at the front line holding up a sign and contributing my life to the White Fang, that was…until the leader stepped down and a new leader took his place."

She took a sip of her tea and continued.

"The new leader had new ways of gaining equality, and things turned more chaotic. We would attack stores and shops that refused to serve us, our peaceful protests would turn into uprisings, we would even steal from companies that used faunus labor."

She put her cup down and let out a small sigh.

"We were eventually treated equally, but not out of respect…out of _fear_. So…that was when I left and here I am now…a criminal hiding in plain sight thanks to a little, black bow." She looked up and twitched her ears, hidden under her bow a little for emphasis.

"Your team found out…didn't they?" I asked, figuring out what the other night was all about.

"Yeah, and I don't think they trust me anymore." The cat-faunus responded.

"How can you be sure if you don't talk to them? You never know, maybe they're more open minded than you think." I said reassuringly.

"Yeah, some people are more accepting than others you know." Sun joined in.

"Alright, I'll talk to them when I get the chance." She responded, deciding not to argue.

"Cool, now I think you should hear this." Sun said, gaining our attention.

"While I was hitching a ride on that boat, I heard the crew talking about a huge shipment of dust coming in at the docks tonight from the Shnee Dust Company. What are the chances that the White Fang might be paying the docks a little visit when that time comes?" Sun informed us.

"Well, I did notice a lot of robberies occurring around Vale. I never would have pegged the White Fang for it though." I said, thinking about all the stores that had been hit since my first year at beacon started.

"We don't know if it's the White Fang for sure. But we should go and find out, hopefully what you're suggesting isn't true." Blake responded.

"Alright, let's head down to the docks tonight. Maybe the White Fang aren't behind those robberies, but there's only one way to find out." I stated, knowing what my plans for tonight will consist of.

"Okay, let's go then and start scouting." Sun said as he stood up, gesturing for us to follow.

* * *

><p>-<em>Back at Team XSRA's Dorm Room<em>-

**Skyla POV**

"Anyone know where Xera is?" I asked the other two in the room.

"Don't know, he was gone when I woke up." Rex responded.

"He left this morning, someone met up with him outside." Allix answered.

"How do you know that?" I questioned.

"I saw him jump out the window earlier and I heard talking outside. So I can only assume he met up with someone and headed off into Vale."

"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's get down to Vale and see what he's up to!"

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><p><strong>In all seriousness...I actually don't like bananas all that much. Any friendly criticism is happily taken, please let me know if I'm doing okay for my first FanFic. Anyway, I have a question for anyone who cares to answer. PM me if you think I should re-write the first few chapters, the ones that took place before coming to beacon. If you think they need an over-haul, feel free to let me know, I'll be more than willing to do it. So, enjoy life guys! Favorite, Follow, Review, Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Do something with your life. Cya!<strong>


	14. Dragon at the Docks

**I won't run when the storm clouds come,**

**I won't turn away, ****cuz if your eyes on the ground,**

**W****hen the night come's 'round,**

**You only see the stars...****when they fall like rain.**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 14: Dragon at the Docks<p>

**Skyla POV**

"Come on! How can we find him in a city _this_ big?" I complained as we walked down the street in search of Xera.

"Skyla, you are the one who wanted to find him in the first place." Allix responded.

"Yeah, we haven't even searched downtown yet. Give it some time." Rex joined in.

"Fiiiiiiine, but we're stopping at a café for a snack." I said, stopping in front of our usual café.

After buying a few coffees and some food, we continued our search to find our team leader.

"It's getting dark guys, do you want to head back soon or wait 'till nightfall?" Allix asked as we snacked.

"Let's give it a little longer, besides, we still have a little while before the last airships go back to Beacon." Rex stated while eating some meat-lovers pizza slices.

***BOOM!***

"What. Was. THAT?!" I screamed, trying to find the direction the explosion came from.

"It sounded like it came from the docks!" Allix said, pointing toward a growing cloud of smoke emanating from the direction of the docks.

"Well let's go then!" I yelled as I started running toward the explosion, teammates in tow.

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><p><strong>Xera POV<strong>

-_An Hour Earlier_-

We were sitting on a roof top overlooking the docks and massive containers of dust.

"So, what did I miss?" Sun asked while approaching us from behind, carrying a bunch of apples.

"Not much, nothing's happened yet." I responded.

"Okay, cool. Here I stole us some snacks!" Sun exclaimed, seemingly proud of what he accomplished.

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" Blake spoke up, eyeing the apples in Sun's arms.

"No…but when I do, I don't feel bad about it, if that's what you're asking."

Our little chat was interrupted by a bullhead flying overhead, shining a search light across the docks trying to find a safe location to land. When it landed, the bay door opened and out stepped a couple White Fang members.

"Oh, no." Blake mumbled, a hint of disappointment in her tone.

"You really didn't think the White Fang was behind this, did you?" I asked in a knowing tone.

"I guess deep down I knew…I just didn't want to be right." She responded.

"What's the hold up!?" Yelled someone from down below.

A man with a white suit and black pants stepped out of the bullhead. He was wearing a bolo hat and holding a cane. The man approached one of the White Fang members, who was holding large cables.

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human, especially not with one like _that_!" Blake said before jumping off the building, stealthily running behind a few crates for cover.

"Well, I guess were going to have to fight them. You ready?" Sun asked.

I nodded as we waited for Blake to make the first move.

She approached the man from behind and held a Blade at his throat, too close for an aura shield to protect.

"Nobody move!" Blake yelled, causing most of the White Fang members to stop what they're doing and draw their weapons.

Blake tugged her bow off, revealing her cat ears and continued, "Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum!?"

"Oh, didn't you get the memo? You see, the White Fang and I are going on a little business venture together." The man said, hardly seeming fazed by the blade pressed against his throat.

"Well, what if I put a stop to your little operation?" The cat-faunus threatened.

"I wouldn't call it a _little_ operation…" He said just as two more bullheads flew in overhead, equipped with guns and dropping off even more White Fang members.

While she was distracted, the man shifted his grip on his cane and the tip popped open, then pointed it at the ground underneath Blake's feet.

"Blake! Look out!" I yelled just as an explosion emerged between the two, throwing Blake backward.

* * *

><p><strong>3<strong>**rd**** Person**

Blake rolled and got up onto her feet, dodging more dust flares coming from the man's cane. She used her semblance to get up close and take a few swipes at him with Gambol Shroud, but none of them landed.

"And…Good-Night!" Sun yelled as he planted both his feet into an unsuspecting White Fang member's face.

He turned and noticed he was now surrounded by more enemies, so he pulled out a red bow-staff and spun it around in a skilled manner, stopping the twirl and pointing it at one of the members.

Just as he was about to charge, a black blade flew through the air, knocking out the legs of the unsuspecting members around Sun. While all of them were on the ground, dust shells were shot into their defenseless bodies, knocking them out cold from the sudden impacts.

"Way to start the party without me Sun." Xera stated sarcastically, catching his boomerang and transforming his other weapon back into blade form.

"Fashionably late, I see. Not bad, but you can use some work on your entrance." Sun responded with a chuckle.

Xera and Sun fought off more waves of White Fang members as Blake tried to attack the cane-wielding man to no avail.

"You're not half bad kitty, but you're going to have to do much better to match _me_!" He yelled as he shot another flare toward the cat-faunus, sending her back a few feet from the impact.

"Well, it's been fun! But I really need to get going, so…good bye!" The man exclaimed as he fired another flare toward the still recovering Blake.

Just as the explosion was about to reach its mark, Sun jumped in front of it and spun his bow-staff at blinding speeds, making a make-shift shield and deflecting the dust flare.

As the smoke cleared, Sun ran in and attacked, sending a flurry of bow-staff strikes and shotgun blasts from his weapon. The man deflected the assault and found a slight window, striking Sun across the chest and knocking him back a bit. As he was about to follow up, Blake appeared in front of him yelling, "He's mine!" as she sent a barrage of slashes into him.

Xera finished off the rest of the White Fang members and turned to see a bullhead take off with a crate of dust attached to it.

"Oh, no you don't!"

He reared back his arms and threw his boomerangs at one of the bullhead's wings, both blades aiming for the same spot. The swords sliced through the metal and sent the vessel crashing down into the water surrounding the docks.

Catching Annivia's Talons, Xera turned just in time to dodge a volley of machine gun fire from the second bullhead. As he ran, the asphalt of the docks broke and shattered as the ground behind Xera was ripped to shreds.

He turned and took cover behind a large crane, avoiding the barrage of bullets coming from the vessel overhead. The machine gun fire halted as it tried to find its target again.

At the other side of the docks, Sun and Blake continued to fight against the man with the cane, appearing to be having trouble getting through his defense.

Sun was thrown back as Blake ran in, taking a few swipes at his chest, landing one but the other was quickly parried away.

She ducked under a swipe just as Sun jumped above her, smashing the butt of his staff into the man's head. He staggered back a bit, trying to recover but instead, received a flurry of slashes from Gamble Shroud.

Thinking quickly, he looked up and noticed a hanging container above his opponent's heads. He shot the cable holding it up and watched as the massive box crashed down into where the two were standing.

Blake rolled backwards, dodging the container and Sun dove forwards, ending up at the feet of the enemy. The man looked down, smirking as he aimed his cane at the downed Sun's head.

"Hey!"

A girl in a red cloak yelled from the top of one of the buildings, a massive scythe in hand.

"Oh, Hello Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" The man yelled back, apparently he knows the cloaked girl.

The girl looked back for a second, distracted by something. The man took this moment to shoot a flare at the girl, colliding into the unsuspecting girl's body and throwing her backwards. Just as the smoke cleared, a ginger-haired girl with a large bow and pigtails jumped down the building, landing, and creating a small crater from the sheer force of the impact.

Two more bullhead flew in, dropping off even more White Fang members and targeting their new enemy. Behind the girl, were 9 floating swords, almost like she was controlling them.

She threw her arm forward as her blades shot out, taking out the members in front of her with ease. The swords started spinning in front of her body, creating a shield to block the line of bullets shot at her from the bullheads above.

"These kids just keep getting weirder." The man said as he escaped into another bullhead, taking off, and leaving the docks.

"Dang, he got away!" Blake said as she noticed the bullhead flying off.

"It's fine, we'll get him next time." Xera said, now standing next to her. The bullhead that was targeting him from before was now distracted by the girl with the floating blades.

"Whoa, check her out!" Sun exclaimed while staring at the girl, feeling slightly impressed.

Just as he said that, the girl held out bother her arms in front of her, circling her blades around a slowing growing green ball of energy. The ball grew larger and brighter, and then she thrust her arms forward, shooting an enormous beam of energy into one of the bullheads, slicing it clean in half. The debris of the vessel landing in the water next to the dock with members of the White Fang jumping out and swimming away from the docks.

"_Are those strings? She's controlling the swords somehow, but no human can do that, unless..."_ Xera thought as he watched the girl shoot her swords into the side of another bullhead, pulling it down to the ground with sheer strength.

Two more bullheads appeared overhead, both seemingly equipped with large canons, taking aim at the girl below. She barely had time to put out her shield before being impacted by a stream of rockets fired from the vessels, throwing her backward into the building behind her.

"We need to help!" Xera yelled as he reared back his arm, ready to throw his blade.

Just as he was about to release it, the wind picked up all around them, whirlwinds of air lifted crates and fallen debris all over the place, sending them in every direction. The sky darkened and lightning struck, lighting the sky for a brief second as a large shadow appeared behind the clouds.

***BOOM!***

A blazing ball of fire pierced through the layer of dark clouds above, hurtling toward one of the bullheads at unbelievable speed. Before the vessel could react, the ball of fire impacted the top of the ship and sent the bullhead into a dive straight into the water.

The second bullhead starting to fly off, trying to avoid the same fate his fellow vessel suffered. But before it could even move a few feet, a large beast plummeted from the clouds, colliding with the vessel and slicing the entire body in half.

The remains of the bullhead crashed into the docks, impacting the ground and creating a huge explosion. When the smoke cleared, the clouds in the sky parted and the storm died down, the wind stopped and the beast stood in the fire of the crash site. Gold and bronze scales covered his entire body, littered in scars and old battle wounds. Two large wings extended at both sides and a long neck protruded forward, connecting with a fierce looking head and spikes all along his back. The head was like a serpent but covered in heavy scales, his maw was filled with rows of large teeth as sharp as blades. Glowing eyes seemingly made of pure fire stared at the teens in front of him, mainly one in particular.

"**Xera Stark, I have been searching for you for quite some time now. And here you are."** The beast bellowed in a thundering voice, shaking the ground as he spoke.

"How do you know my name?!" Xera responded, gripping his weapons feeling slightly threatened.

"**I knew your mother, Xera." **It responded.

"How can you possibly know her, she's been dead for years." Realization struck Xera as he remembered a story his mother once told him when he was younger.

"Wait…no way. Vulderak?!"

"**Indeed, it appears she has mentioned me before."**

"But…why are you here?"

"**I am here to warn you. Something is coming Xera, and you're the only one powerful enough to challenge it."**

"What do you mean? How am _I_ the only one who can fight it?"

"**Your power exceeds your own understanding…you will realize your true potential soon enough. And when that happens, I will train you."**

"My true potential? What power do you think I possess?"

"**When the time is right, you will know."**

And with that, Vulderak took flight and soared into the clouds again, disappearing from view.

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><p><strong>Xera POV<strong>

"_Power…what power? How do I fight something if I don't even know my true strength?"_ I thought as Vulderak flew away.

"Xera! What was that all about!?" yelled a familiar voice.

I turned and saw Skyla running up with the rest of my team.

"He was…an old friend?" I responded, not fully believing what I was saying.

"That…_that _was a dragon! I thought they were all extinct, but you just so happened to know one!" Allix exclaimed, extremely confused.

"That thing was a dragon?! He was huge!" Rex joined in as he followed Allix.

"You called him Vulderak, correct?" Blake asked.

"Yes, my mother told me a story about him and apparently, she even befriended him." I answered.

"Vulderak was the name of the dragon that saved humanity from extinction, back when they first discovered the properties of dust. How is he still alive?" She responded curiously.

"I'll explain later, but for now…I think some people are here to see you." I gestured toward three more teens approaching us.

"Oh, that's my team. I'm not entirely sure why they're here."

"Blake! Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?!" asked a girl in white.

The girl in red was also there, she seemed perfectly fine despite taking a direct hit from a dust flare.

"Yeah, we've been searching Vale for the entire weekend. Where have you been?" The cloaked girl asked.

"Come on guys, let her explain. I'm sure she has a perfectly good explanation." A girl with blonde hair spoke up.

Blake sighed and looked at her team, "Okay, first of all, I want to tell you guys that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang, I haven't been sinc-"

"Stop right there." The girl in white interrupted.

"Since you've been gone, I've had some time to think about what happened. And I've come to a decision…" She said.

Blake looked a little worried, and so did the girl in the red cloak as they waited for her to continue.

"I don't care!" She exclaimed, causing the girls in front of her to relax.

Blake started to tear up a bit and brought her in for a hug.

"See, I told you they would understand." Sun said, giving Blake a double-thumbs up.

"But, I'm still not too sure about _you_." The girl in white said as she pointed a finger at Sun.

"Wait, who are you guys anyway?" Skyla spoke up, interested in who the other girls in front of us are.

"Oh, well this is my team. I'm Blake Belladonna, this is Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long." She gestured to each one as she named them off.

"Yeah, and we make up TEAM RWBY!" Ruby yelled in excitement.

"Woah, calm down sis. We still need to know their names." Yang said, grabbing hold of Ruby and stopping her from jumping up and down.

"Right, well my name is Xera Stark, this is Skyla Xerious, Rex Tyro, and Allix Stowe." I gestured toward my teammates as each one waved as their name was said.

"And we're TEAM XSRA!" Skyla cheered.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you, but we really need to get going, the Beacon airships leave in less than 15 minutes." Weiss informed.

"You guys go on ahead, I'm going to head into town and find a place to stay. Besides, I was thinking about enrolling into Beacon tomorrow, maybe I'll see you around." Sun said as he waved us good bye.

"Bye Sun, thanks for helping us." "See ya Sun, I hope we see you around Beacon!" Blake and I exclaimed toward the monkey-faunus as we walked off with our teams.

"Hey, has anyone seen Penny?" Ruby spoke up.

"No idea, was that the girl with the floating swords?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's her, but I don't see her anywhere."

"I'm sure she's fine. She can definitely take care of herself in a fight." Blake said, reassuring Ruby that her friend was probably safe.

All of us walked back to the Beacon airship, barely catching the last one before it took flight towards the academy.

I stared out the window, watching the buildings fly by as the school came into view, _"I need to find out what Vulderak was talking about, what power, what kind of abilities do I have? Gah…I hate not having any answers. I guess I'll just have to wait and find out."_

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><p><strong>BOOM! Chapter 14 done and done. So, I tried making the docks scene from the show, but just a little more epic, also tried incorporating fighting (Not one of my strong categories), and introduce Vulderak (I tried making that part dramatic). Yeah, I think I did okay, please let me know what I can improve on. Anyway, I just wrote the past few chapters, so it's Sky's turn now, she's going to right chapter 15...be prepared for what ever she comes up with. Enjoy life guys, and favorite, follow, review, keep being awesome. I'll cya guys later!<strong>

**...**

**P.S. Lyrics from up top are from Klangkarussell - Netzwerk (Falls Like Rain) [Paris Blohm Remix] on the Proximity YouTube Channel.**


	15. Explanations and October Fest

**Just as a heads up, Sky and I are probably going to be working together on the chapters for now on instead of alternating. We're also messing around with 3rd Person views as well, so let us know what you guys think. Here's chapter 15!**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 15: Explanations and October Fest<p>

**3****rd**** Person**

The morning after the docks, teams: RWBY, JNPR, and XSRA were all situated in the lounge outside their dorm rooms. The sun was rising and classes weren't for another hour. Most of the teens waited in excitement, that being Skyla, Nora, Ruby, Yang, and Jaune. The others just sat still and waited with interest, or occupied themselves with other activities while they relaxed before class.

Xera was just finishing up filling in the rest of team RWBY and team JNPR about what happened at the docks.

"So, I guess I should tell you guys what that thing was last night…" Xera started.

"You mean the big, hulking lizard at the docks?" Yang interrupted.

"Oooooo, that thing was SOOOO COOL!" Ruby jumped in.

Xera cleared his throat, regaining the sisters' attention, "Yes…the giant lizard thing. You all know about the history of the Humans right?"

"Yes, of course we all do. It was the time when we first discovered dust and overpowered the Grimm with our ingenuity." Weiss huffed, annoyed that she was woken up early for this.

"Well, do you know how the humans survived before they had dust?" Xera responded, catching the heiress off guard.

"They…they…survived by…" She sighed in defeat, "I don't know."

Xera smirked a little, knowing that he knew something that the heiress didn't.

"It was because of the dragons, wasn't it?" Blake spoke up from behind her book, now taking interest in the conversation.

"Yes Blake, the dragons were an untold part of history. They were the real reason why the humans came to be." Xera stated.

"How come I've never heard of them before?" Ren asked, curious as to why this never came up before.

"You see, after the ancient war against the Grimm, the humans were asked to keep the dragon's existence a secret. The last dragon that survived made the humans swear secrecy to allow him to live in peace for the rest of his life, knowing that he was no longer needed to protect the world anymore."

"Wait, so they just kept quiet all these years. Never telling a single person about what really happened?" Weiss spoke up, wondering why something so important could be left a secret.

"I can understand why the last remaining dragon wanted his existence to be unknown." Pyrrha said.

"How can you understand why he wants to be left out of history? He would be a hero, and he would literally be praised by civilization. Why throw that all away?" Jaune asked, directing his curiosity toward the Spartan warrior.

She gave Jaune a sympathetic look, "Sometimes Jaune…the spotlight can be too much. Some people just want to live in peace and quiet."

"I know what you mean, but for some people, you just can't get out of the spotlight." Weiss spoke up, sympathizing with Pyrrha.

"How do you two know about the dragons anyway?" Allix asked, gesturing towards Xera and Blake.

"Yeah, I was wondering where Blake heard about it too, because I only know one person, in the world, who knew the true history behind Human's survival." Xera stated, giving the cat-faunus a curious glance.

"Someone told me a story about them." Blake stated simply, shifting in her seat before she continued.

"She was a high-ranked member of the White Fang, a much respected one too. She was like a personal mentor to me, but she stopped showing up as often as she used to, due to family. I looked up to her, a lot of the members did. She was one of the reasons why I left."

Blake sighed and continued, "She was known as _The Phoenix_, and she led all the protests and created peace with a lot of corporations without the use of violence. When the new leader took control and started to use violence as a way to fight back, she tried to convince him to reconsider his actions. After a few days, she left, bringing a lot of the White Fang members with her, who still believed in gaining equality through peaceful actions, not violence. I was one of the members who left after she did, but I never saw her after that. She just…disappeared."

Blake glanced at the people in front of her and said one last thing, "No one ever knew her real name, or what kind of faunus she was. I only knew her as _The Phoenix_. Just a false name and a face. I wish I could've gotten to know her more."

Xera was trying to hide a genuine smile, but the cat-faunus noticed his attempts, "Xera, what are you smiling about?"

"It's…just…the same person told me about the dragons as well." Xera stated, shifting in his seat a little.

"So, you both met this _Phoenix_ lady and she told you guys a story about dragons." Yang asked, looking at the two in front of her.

"Blake may have met her in the White Fang, but I knew her for my entire life. Her name was Leona Stark…my mother." Xera stated, reminiscing in his memories.

***Gasp!***

"Nora, there's no need to be so dramatic." Ren said, giving Nora an annoyed look.

"Sorry, the story was _really_ getting interesting." She defended, giving an apologetic smile.

Xera gave an amused smile and further explained, "My mother told me a story about how she met a dragon, years before I was born. She was mountain climbing deep within the wilderness of Vytal, and she was walking across a pathway above a deep gorge when she was ambushed by beowolves…"

***Gasp!***

"Shhhh, quiet Nora. I'm trying to listen." Ruby whispered as she continued to look at Xera with extreme interest.

"But, it wasn't me." Nora responded.

"Sorry, it was me this time, come on Xera…continue with the story." Skyla spoke, feeling a bit guilty.

Xera grinned a little at his friend's antics, "As I was saying, she was ambushed and pushed back to the edge of the gorge. With eminent doom in sight, she took up a fighting stance and tried to defend herself against the group of Grimm. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. When one of the last few beowolves was about to lunge at her…a large shadow flew from the peak of the mountain top and crashed down onto the remaining Grimm, killing them and saving my mom. That was when she met Vulderak…the dragon you saw last night."

"Why did he come to the docks last night, though? I thought he wanted to live in peace and avoid violence?" Rex asked, absent-mindedly plucking strings on his guitar.

"I'm not sure about that just yet. All I know is that _I_ was the reason why he showed up. I don't know why, but apparently…I hold some sort of power that I don't even know about yet." Xera explained.

"Guys, class is starting in 10 minutes. We should get going." Weiss informed, getting up along with team JNPR.

"Yeah, we'll see you guys later. Thanks for informing us about all this, Xera." Ren stated as he walked towards the door.

"Ooooo, I loved that story. There was a plot-twist and everything!" Nora exclaimed as she followed Ren.

"We'll see you guys at lunch." "Yeah, and thanks for filling us in too." Pyrrha and Jaune said as they left as well.

"Come on sis, we should get to class. See you later guys." Yang said as she got up with Ruby.

"You're mom sounds like a really cool person, Xera. I wish I could meet her." Ruby said as she stood.

"Yeah…you would have loved her. Everyone did." He responded.

Ruby and Yang left the room, leaving just team XSRA and Blake behind in the lounge.

"I remember you saying something to Vulderak about Leona. Is she not around anymore?" Blake asked after her team and team JNPR left.

"She died years ago…it's okay Blake. It's all in the past now, don't worry about it." Xera responded in a reassuring tone.

"I'm sorry. I just wish…I could've gotten to know her."

"Yeah, she sounds really sweet. I wish I met her at some point." Skyla said, giving Xera a sympathetic look.

"Sorry to hear man. It means a lot to know that you trust us enough to say something like that." Rex added, looking up from his guitar at Xera.

Xera looked at Allix, she had tears running down her cheeks. "Allix, are you okay?" He asked, causing her to look at him with watery eyes.

"It's nothing, my parent passed away when I was little, so I know where you're coming from Xera. You're story just reminded me of them." Allix said, reassuring him that she was okay.

"Alright, sorry to hear that you had family pass away too. You guys should head to class before you're late." Xera said, motioning toward the rest of his team.

"What about you, you're going to be late if you stay any longer." Skyla asked.

"I'll be right behind you guys. Just go on ahead."

Skyla nodded as she walked out of the lounge, Allix and Rex followed soon after, leaving Blake and Xera last to leave the room and head to class.

"I'm sorry if this brought up any bad memories for you Xera." Blake said as she got up.

"It's fine, we should really be getting to class though." Xera stated, standing up as well.

"See you later Blake. It's good to know that you met my mother before and I'm glad you found some answers about who she was."

"Yeah…thank you for that. I'll see you later."

The cat-faunus left the room and headed off to class. Xera sighed as he glanced toward the hallway, knowing who was standing there for the entire conversation he had with his team.

"Ozpin, you should know by now that I can sense your presence."

Ozpin stepped out from the doorway, leaning against his cane as he sipped from his trade-mark coffee mug.

"I was interested as to what you had to share." He said as he finished his sip of his beverage.

"But, you already know about my past."

"True…but Vulderak was an interesting topic."

"You heard about what happened at the docks?"

"I know everything about what happens in and out of my school. You should know that by now."

"Right…I should have guessed that you already knew about that."

"Indeed, now shouldn't you be getting to class. I believe it starts in a few minutes. I suggest you hurry." Ozpin turned and left the room, walking back to his office as Xera started making his way to his class room.

Xera walked into his first class, barely making it before the bell. He never made an effort to run even though it would have been faster.

* * *

><p>Skyla leaned against her arm, squishing her face as she strained to stay awake during class.<p>

_"This is borrinnnggg!"_ She thought as she slipped and face planted into the desk. She groaned and sat back up and watched the teacher move rapidly from one end of the room to the next, telling the _heroic_ story of him and a 3-headed Hydra.

Skyla glanced at Xera, half asleep leaning against the table.

"Snore. Snore. Snore. Snore. Snore." She chanted waiting for him to fall asleep and let out a monstrous snore.

"Snore already!" She shouted. Everyone stopped and stared at her after the outburst. Skyla blushed and sat back down covering her face. Xera stared at her wide eyed like she had just pulled out a knife and threatened to kill his dog.

"Oopsie?"

"Are you done yet, Skyla?" The teacher asked annoyed with how she had interrupted the lesson.

Skyla nodded quickly, her face burning a bright red.

"This is so embarrassing." She muttered under her breath, sinking deeper into her seat.

Skyla thought about all the things that could have gone wrong in those last thirty seconds when she blurted out "Snore Already" when suddenly the bell rang, sending all the students of Beacon flying into the halls towards the lunch room.

Skyla slowly packed her things, while Xera walked over and nudged her with his shoulder. "So...what was that display all about?"

"Nothing."

"Really? Shouting Snore Already! Is nothing?"

"Yes. Well, for me it is."

The teenaged boy chuckled lightly before grabbing his books.

"See you at lunch?" The brown headed girl asked, grabbing her books from the table. The boy nodded and walked out from the room.

The teen girl sighed deeply, her face still stained with red as she slowly made her way out of the large classroom and into the already abandoned halls.

_"Well...that was fun!" _She thought as she approached the cafeteria.

She joined Allix and Rex at the usual lunch table, but now teams RWBY and JNPR also sat at the table as well, all chatting about boring classes, food, random adventures, and weapons.

"Hey Skyla. You see Xera around?" Allix asked as she ate her salad. _"Does she only eat salad?"_

"Nope, he was supposed to meet us here during lunch. I'm not sure where he is right now." I responded half-heartedly, sitting down across from Allix.

"He's probably hanging out around the courtyard with that big blossom tree. He has been doing that a lot lately during lunch." Rex informed, chowing down on some chicken breasts and gravy.

"I passed through the courtyard on my way here with Nora. He wasn't there, not at that time anyway." Ren joined in.

"Oooooo…maybe he's on a super-secret spy mission and can't tell us about it because if we found out he would have to kill us!" Nora exclaimed quickly, starting in a quiet tone and ending in a half yell.

"I don't think that's the case, Nora." Pyrrha spoke up from her seat next to Jaune.

"I'm not so sure Pyrrha, Xera has been very absent lately." Jaune said as he cut up the pancake in front of him.

Skyla looked around the table at all the idly chatting teens, stopping her gaze on a certain red-cloaked girl who has been unusually quiet lately._ "I wonder what she's hiding…"_

"Hey Ruby, you've been silent lately. What's up?" Skyla asked, eyeing down the red-reaper.

Ruby jumped at the sudden question and stuttered, "N-nothing at all, see…I-I'm perfectly fine." She made a wide gesture with her arms, trying to show that she wasn't different at all.

"Oh come on sis. We all know you're hiding something. You only get this way when you holding in a secret." Yang stated, nudging Ruby with her shoulder.

"What?! I'm not hiding anything." She responded, trying to avoid all the now turned heads towards her at the lunch table.

"Come on, is it about Xera?" Skyla asked.

"Do you know what he's been up to?" Allix followed up.

"Are you his secret partner for his secret missions as a secret agent?!" Nora cheered, now holding a battery powered lamp in Ruby's face.

Ren sighed as he gently placed his hand on Nora's shoulder, "Nora, put the lamp down. This isn't an interrogation."

"Of course it is! SHE HAS TO TELL US THE CODE!" Skyla yelled as she now stood with an even bigger lamp, shining directly into the young leader's eyes.

"NO! NO, I'LL NEVER TALK!" She retorted, looking away from the bright lights.

"Oh yes you will!"

Yang grabbed hold of Ruby and started tickling her, causing her knees to buckle and choke on intense laughter, "Yang…please…st-op…ok….uncle…UNCLE…I GIVE!"

The blonde brawler relented as she released her sister, letting her recover and sit back in her chair.

"I know where Xera is and what he's doing." She started, catching a few interested glances in her sights.

She continued, "I've been seeing him a lot in the Forging room. He told me to not tell anyone because he wants his little project to be a secret. I think it's something to do with his weapons. I swear…that's all I know. Now can you please put away the lamps?"

"Okey-dokey!" "Thank you for the confession, I'll talk to the judge about shortening your sentence." Nora said proudly while Skyla took on a New York's cop accent as she took on the role of a New York Cop.

"I wonder what he's working on." Rex said, gaining interest in the conversation.

"It's probably a weapon modification." Allix guessed.

"Or a completely new weapon entirely." Blake chimed in from behind her book.

"Or maybe…he's building a BOMB!"

"Nora, I don't think Xera is a bomb expert." Ren sighed as Nora sat back down, lamp nowhere in sight.

"I'm sure he'll show us when it's done." Pyrrha interjected.

The table grew quiet for a few seconds, no conversations popping up, no comments being made, just awkward silence.

"_I hate awkward silence. Come on, think…topic topic topic. AHAH, I got one!"_ Skyla mentally cheered as she turned toward the table full of teens.

"So guys, who's ready for the upcoming October Fest!"

Nora cheered in excitement with Skyla and Ruby, everyone else just gave smiles and showed a much more dialed down version of excitement.

"I hear every street in Vale is going to be decorated." Skyla said, trying to excite her friends around the table.

"I know! There are going to be festivals, parades, dances, even candy on every street corner!" Weiss exclaimed, oddly excited about the upcoming holiday.

"Beacon's also going to have a Halloween party during the holiday. There's going to be music, punch, and dancing." Yang joined in, pumping her fist in the air.

"Eeeeeek, I can't wait!" Ruby squealed in excitement, bouncing up and down in her seat.

"I know! There's going to be so much candy and sweets and chocolate and cake and punch and…"

Nora was going on and on about different sugar oriented treats during the festival, giving Ren a look of horror as he remember the last time Nora had so much sugar.

Jaune noticed his partners expression and whispered, "Hey, you alright?"

"I have a feeling were going to need to restrain Nora somehow during the festival, you have no idea what she gets like when she eats too much sugar." He whispered back.

"What are you guys whispering about?" Nora asked, finished with her little rant about all the things she is sure she's going to eat at all the parties.

"Nothing! Just making plans for the party we're going to have in the dorm room." Jaune said as he avoided Nora's gaze.

"Oooooo, sounds like fun. Watcha plannin?!"

Jaune scratched his neck sheepishly as he tried to form an answer. Luckily, Ren spoke up noticing his leader. "We were actually going to have a big sleep over between our three teams. There will be tons of snacks and good movies too."

Jaune sighed in relief and continued eating his lunch. Eventually Nora relented her interrogation for more information about the party and continued with her meal as well.

The table chatted about the upcoming festival and talked about what they were going to do when the holiday comes up. Plans began to form, ideas came to mind, Yang even requested a game of 'spin the bottle' during the sleep over.

Lunch soon ended and everyone walked off to their next class. Each person excited in some way or another about October Fest, although most were fearful of what Yang is planning with her little 'spin the bottle' game.

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><p><strong>October Fest is a Holiday we're adding into our little story, just as some celebration for Halloween that's coming up. Xera is working on a little project in the forging room, its going to be awesome but will remain a secret for a little while. Anyway, let me know what you guys think of the story so far, follow if you want, we update often, favorite and review. Enjoy your life guys, and have a good one!<strong>


	16. Ribbon Duel and Battle of Strength

**Who's ready for a fight? Well, these next few chapters will be all the characters going through combat class with Glynda Goodwich. Let me know how everything turns out, because I'm still not sure if I can write fight scenes or not, or at least make them okay-ish. Anyway, enjoy!**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 16: Ribbon Duel and Battle of Strength<p>

**Skyla POV**

"Come on, Xera. Tell me!"

"Skyla…I already told you, it's a secret."

"But I _HAVE_ to know! I hate secrets!"

"Well, you'll see it when it's ready. Now remember…if you peak while I'm working on it…you no hold."

"Awwwww…but I wanna hold it." I whined as we walked down the corridors of Beacon.

I found Xera walking out of the Forge Room when lunch ended. _"Ruby was right, he's working on something in there…and I WILL see it!"_

"So what class is next?" I asked.

"Battle Strategies with Goodwich." He responded, turning down the hallway leading to the arenas.

"Oh, this should be fun. I wonder who we'll be facing." I thought out loud, teeming with excitement.

"Hey guys!" Exclaimed a deep male voice from behind us.

"Hey Rex, hi Allix. You guy's ready for some arena battles?" Xera asked, walking backwards while our two teammates jogged to catch up to us.

"You bet we are. Me and Kryptonite's arrow haven't shot anything in a while. It'll be good to train a bit." Allix stated, snuggling her black and red bow in her arms.

"Oh yeah, me and Duel-Elektro are going to shred up the competition too!" Rex exclaimed, propping his double-bladed battle ax on his shoulder, beaming proudly.

"No fair, you guys all have names for your weapons. I haven't been able to come up with one for mine yet." I pouted as we continued walking to the arena room.

"Don't worry Skyla, I'm sure you'll come up with something. If you want, we can pitch you some ideas." Xera said reassuringly.

"Nah, but thanks anyway. I need to come up with it on my own. Maybe I'll end up having a revelation in the middle of battle today and finally have a name!" I stated, getting my own hopes up.

We walked into the doors of the arena room, gazing at the giant chamber filled with bleachers and seats along every wall. There was a huge arena ring in the middle with hologram panels and a large screen up high on the far wall, probably for showing aura levels and opponents.

Turning to walk toward the rest of our class, I recognized a bunch of familiar faces, particularly two teams led by a rosy marksman and a blonde knight.

"OH MY GOSH! You guys are here too!?" Nora exclaimed as she jumped up and down, Magnhild in hand.

"You bet we are, looks like this is going to be a fun day." Xera stated as he looked at the other two teams in the large room.

"Hey Xera, Skyla, Rex and Allix, this is gonna be so much fun! I finally get to see all of you guys fight!" Ruby cheered, play-swinging Crescent Rose around as she spoke.

"Yeah, looks like we can finally see what you guys are made of." Jaune joined in.

Everyone quieted down at the sound of heels clicking, echoing throughout the room as the professor approached.

"Good evening, Students, today you will be tested on your battle techniques and fighting abilities. Please step out of the arena and take your seats in the stands. Come forward to battle when your name is called." She informed, tapping away on her scroll as she spoke.

"I wonder who's fighting first." Pyrrha spoke up as we took our seats.

"Any bets?" Rex asked, tempting the teams to place wagers on who gets called up first.

"5 Lien on Ruby." Ren said, oddly interested in gambling.

"10 Lien on Pyrrha." Weiss added.

"10 Lien on Xera!" Yang joined in.

Pretty soon everyone had placed bids on who will be going up first, some people even made some extra bets on who will follow after the first battle.

"Will Blake Belladonna and Skyla Xerious please come forward and prepare your weapons." Glynda announced, heavily disappointing most of the students in the stands who just lost their bets.

Blake set down the book she was reading and stood. I followed her down the stairs and out into the arena where we took our positions.

She held Gambol Shroud in its sheath form and I took out my blades and held them in both hands. We eyed each other down for a little while, studying each other's weapons and potential plans of attack.

"Begin!"

***Clang!***

"Woah!" I exclaimed in shock as we clashed blades.

In the blink of an eye, Blake shot forward and swung her sword. I barely had time to deflect it, let alone follow up with my own swings.

* * *

><p><strong>3<strong>**rd**** Person**

Blake moved with speed, using her semblance to shadow step and send fast swipes towards Skyla, who was dodging and weaving in between the after-images.

"You're pretty fast!" Skyla stated as she blocked another swing.

"You're not too bad yourself." Blake responded, stepping back a bit from the clash.

Skyla took this moment to shoot out her ribbons, rapping them around Blake's legs.

Blake stumbled, trying to regain her balance from the sudden attack, not expecting something like that to happen.

Skyla charged the ribbons with aura and swung as hard as she could, throwing Blake across the arena and into one of the standing columns along the perimeter.

"And she's outa here!" Skyla cheered, propping her blade on her should and used her other hand to shade her eyes, as if watching a baseball sail over the far fence and score a home run.

As the smoke was clearing, a black ribbon pierced through the cloud and flew toward Skyla, wrapping around her upper body.

"You aren't the only one with ribbons!" Blake stated as she tugged hard, sending Skyla into the ground.

Deciding to return the favor, Blake started to spin, lifting Skyla up as she twirled around using momentum and gravity to her advantage. After a few spins, she launched Skyla into the far wall at high speeds, creating a small crater of cracks.

Blake looked up at the screen, noticing that both their auras are now in the yellow.

"Oooo, you have ribbons too, Blakey. Oh this just got _so _much more fun!" Skyla cheered as she pushed herself free from the wall, glowing a light purple color.

"Trust me, the fun's just getting started!" Blake yelled back, giving off a slight black glow as well and pulling her sheath off Gambol Shroud, now duel wielding her weapon.

***Clang!***

They entered another sword grind, fiercely trying to push the other back. They followed up with a flurry of swipes and swings, constantly bouncing off each other's blades and deflecting multiple slashes.

"Here comes Thunder and Lightning!" Skyla exclaimed as she swung her blades, sending a heavy clash into Blake's weapon.

Blake stumbled back a bit from the power of the swing. Skyla noticed this and followed up immediately, "Go get em Terror and Mayhem!" She yelled, sending another heavy swipe toward Blake.

Blake quickly found her footing and used her shadow step to dodge the swipe. As Skyla missed her attack, it left her open and defenseless for just a second. Blake took advantage of this and sent a flurry of quick swipes into Skyla's side, severely draining her aura.

"Ouch Blakey, that hurt!" Skyla stated as she parried the last few swings from Gambol Shroud.

"You shouldn't have left yourself open like that." Blake responded.

Skyla looked up at the screen and noticed her aura was just barely in the red, signaling that she lost the match.

"The winner is Blake Belladonna! Please exit the arena and return to your seats." Glynda announced.

"Awww." Skyla pouted as she put away her swords.

"Hey, you did really well. Those ribbons really caught me off guard at the beginning." Blake said, placing her hand on Skyla's shoulder, reassuring her that she did great.

"Yeah, thanks Blakey. I never knew you had ribbons either, I guess we have more in common than we thought!" Skyla immediately cheered up, skipping back into the stands with Blake following behind her with an amused smile across her lips.

"Will Rex Tyro and Nora Valkyrie please step forward." Glynda stated, signaling the next two to prepare for battle.

"Well, this should be interesting." Yang commented, watching the hulking teen with spiked grey hair stand, along with the peppy pink huntress as well.

"You ready Nora? I won't go easy on you." Rex said as he walked down the stairs.

"Oh yeah, I've been wanting to battle you for like, _ever_. And now…we get to have a totally awesome showdown!" Nora exclaimed, jumping in excitement.

Rex chuckled as they entered the arena floor, going to opposite ends of the ring and preparing for their fight.

Nora pulled out Magnhild and held it so that the top of the hammer was placed on the floor, allowing her to lean against the handle. Rex propped Duel-Elektro on his right shoulder, ready to swing at any moment.

"Begin!"

***BOOM!***

Nora pulled the trigger on her hammer, sending a small concussive blast into the ground below her and sending her toward Rex, rearing back Magnhild and ready to swing.

Rex smirked and pulled back his ax, almost like he was preparing to swing it like a baseball bat. Their two massive weapons collided, sending Nora high into the air and pushing Rex back, skidding a few feet before coming to a halt.

Nora was laughing at this point, knowing that Rex did exactly what she wanted him to do. While she was in the air, she switched Magnhild into grenade-launcher form and started raining down pink explosives back toward the arena floor.

Rex dodged and weaved, but the current height advantage was definitely helping Nora as she kept firing grenade after grenade as she fell back down, landing with a hard thud and sending one last grenade toward Rex, colliding with his chest and sending him back into the wall behind him.

"Yay! Noob TUBE killcam!" Nora exclaimed as she souluted Rex, who was implanted in the wall. He grunted and pushed himself out, shifting his grip on Duel-Elektro and transforming it into crossbow form.

"I suggest you dodge." He stated simply, pulling the trigger and releasing a flurry of mini electric bolts, all colliding with the ground and the wall around Nora. She was currently taking his advice to mind, dodging and diving in every direction, trying to avoid a most certainly painful experience.

"You'll have to do better than that to hit me-" Nora was cut off as the flat side of a giant ax collided with her side, sending tumbling across the arena floor, aura now in the yellow just below green, similar to where Rex's aura was at currently.

"Glad you were distracted by the rain of lightning, you barely noticed me move up with Duel-Elektro back in ax form." Rex stated, spinning his ax in hand to show off a little.

"Cool trick, but it's time we start going a little more face to face." Nora exclaimed as she readied Magnhild and charged.

***Boom!***

A series of shock waves rocked the stadium, heavy weapons slamming into each other and bouncing off with enough force to crack the floor around them. Rex was holding his ground against Nora's random swings of her hammer, they were quick and held immense power behind every attack.

"You're really strong, you know that?" Rex commented, parrying one of her hammer slams into the ground and thrusting the tip of his ax into Nora's stomach.

Nora buckled over a bit but used the downward momentum of his parry and spun around, bringing the hammer back up and slamming into Rex's gut, sending him up into the air.

"And you're strangely durable for a tall guy with spiky hair!" She chimed as she watched Rex bounce off the ground and come to a stop.

He stood up and reared Duel-Elektro over his head, bringing it down into the ground and sending a shockwave toward Nora's feet, knocking her over and causing her to loose balance.

"You should be careful…some people can be deceiving. I may be durable…but my semblance is pure power!" Rex boomed, kneeling down and shifting his ax into crossbow form, eyes pooling in blood red and filling with rage.

A familiar high pitched humming sounded through the air, growing louder as Rex and his weapon glowed bright blue.

"Nora, get up, NOW!" Ren yelled from the stands, sensing immense amounts of aura coming from the spiked haired teen.

"**Too Late!"** Rex's voice boomed, echoing in the stadium as he released the energy built up in Duel-Elektro, sending a massive bolt of lightning toward the still stumbling Nora.

The entire arena glowed blue as the beam of lightning struck Nora, sending her through multiple columns and embedding the poor girl into the back wall. The light died down and the stadium returned to its original stature.

Rex used a ton of his aura in that attack, resulting in his levels to drop just above red, but still remaining yellow. Nora's however, were in the red.

Ren jumped down and dislodged Nora from the hole in the wall, giving her support as she stumbled. Rex ran over as well and supported her other side, helping her walk to the stands with Ren's help.

"Rex, you have to show me how you do that! That was such a cool attack, and…it was lightning, how do you create lightning!?" Nora squealed, oddly fine with losing the match and more interested in Rex's abilities.

Rex chuckled at Nora's antics and being such a good sport, "Sorry about that Nora, it was the only window I had to win the battle. And I don't think I can teach you my attack, it required an absurd amount of aura and is linked to my semblance." He said as they took their seats.

"That. Was. So. AWESOME!" Ruby squealed, beaming at the two who just fought.

"Hey, what about my battle?" Skyla asked, pouting a little.

"You were awesome too, but Rex used lightning…_LIGHTNING_!" The red-cloaked girl defended.

"I have to admit, that was very impressive." Yang added.

"I agree, how did you learn to focus that much aura?" Pyrrha asked, intrigued by the power she just witnessed.

"It's my semblance, called Undying Rage. I can flood my body with rage and increase my aura levels and power greatly. This also makes my usage of dust extra powerful and allows me to overcharge some attacks." Rex explained.

"Allix Stowe and Ruby Rose step forward. Please enter the arena and prepare for the next fight!" Glynda announced, gaining the attention of everyone again.

* * *

><p><strong>AT DAWN...WE RIDE! In other words, they fight in the next chapter...along with some other head to head battles. I hope these qualify for fight scenes, and I hope some of you are enjoying the story so far. Don't forget to enjoy life, and I'll see you all in the next chapter! Favorite, follow, review, have a good one guys!<strong>


	17. Arena Destruction

**I'm introducing some extra abilities in this chapter, including a different kind of glyph. In the show, there appears to by all kinds of different glyphs that Weiss uses, so why not input some that may or may not even come up in the show. Anyway, I hope these battle are as intense as I imagined them, enjoy chapter 17!**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 17: Arena Destruction<p>

**3****rd**** Person**

"Well, I guess you guys get to see me in action now."

"Yeah, let's go Allix. Good luck and don't hold back." Ruby said excitedly, walking into the arena with Allix.

Back up in the stands, "You know, I haven't really seen Allix fight much. She stays back and fires arrows, but that's all I've seen." Rex said, spiking some curiosity in the group.

"Come to think of it, she really hasn't showed off at all. She stays out of the fight and just watches, not even considering showing her skills." Xera added.

Jaune looked particularly anxious and turned towards the two, "Wait, so you guys haven't even seen her fight to her full ability yet?!"

"Nope, no one has!" Skyla joined in.

"Guys, the match is about to start. I'm sure you'll all see some answers soon enough." Ren interrupted, bringing everyone's attention back on the two below.

Ruby took out her scythe and twirled it around, spinning it around her body and slamming it into the ground in front of her, pointing the barrel at Allix.

Allix took a less show off approach and simply held her bow in hand, looking for any potential weak points in Ruby that she can aim for.

"Begin!"

Immediately, Ruby fired off a barrage of high impact rounds toward Allix, who side rolled and started running in a wide arc around Ruby.

Ruby kicked up her scythe and followed her target, keeping up the flurry of bullets and attempting to land a shot or two. Allix was quick, very quick, she was dodging and weaving between each shot but also keeping her distance. She was waiting…waiting for just the right time.

***Click!***

Ruby's gun clicked, signaling she was out of ammo and needed to reload. But before she could, she was immediately sent flying by a well-placed explosive arrow directly in her gut. Ruby dug her scythe into the ground to stop her from flying back too far and started running from side to side, avoiding more arrows as they flew past her body.

"Smart! You waited for me to reload, and then attacked in that window of opportunity." Ruby commented, quickly loading a new magazine into Crescent Rose as she dodged.

"You're pretty fast, I take it that speed is your semblance?"

"Yep!"

Ruby closed the gap between them in an instant, using her impact gravity rounds to move at speeds that she was no longer visible until she shot another round, changing direction.

***Clang!***

Allix held up the blade of her bow and blocked the attack, being pushed back in the process from the sheer amount of force behind it.

"Nice block, but up close…I have the upper hand!" Ruby exclaimed, spinning her scythe around her body and dealing a combo of quick slashes.

Allix was having trouble blocking all the powerful swipes, she needed to go on the offensive and push her back so she could create some distance between them. So she split her bow in two, revealing that it was also two dust engraved blades that made up her weapon.

***Clang!***

They entered another fierce clash, colliding swipes and swings. Ruby was starting to be over-whelmed by all the quick attacks Allix was using, thanks to her duel weapons compared to Ruby's bigger and slower scythe.

Ruby thought quickly and shot another gravity round into the ground, launching her into the air where she fired another round, sending her back a few feet and gaining distance.

Allix smirked a bit, knowing that Ruby did exactly as she wanted. Without a second thought, Allix sent a barrage of arrows into the air, raining down all kinds of dust arrows into Ruby's position.

Ruby was knocked around by all the different elemental explosions, dropping her aura into the yellow before she sped out of the danger zone, escaping the rain of arrows.

"That was so cool!" Ruby exclaimed as she fired shots at Allix, colliding with her chest and sending her into the wall behind her.

"Nice…shot…too bad…that's the only shot you'll land." Allix said, pushing herself off the wall and weaving around the pillars.

Ruby started shooting in rapid succession, blowing up the pillars as Allix ran through them. Allix jumped through the debris of the falling rubble only to be met by a wide slash from Crescent Rose.

Both girl's aura's were now in the yellow, causing Allix to be slightly more cautious now that she can lose at any moment.

Ruby however, was as reckless as ever. Speeding her way around and clashing with Allix, sending them into another battle of swords and blades.

Ruby was starting to gain the upper-hand through sheer strength, pushing the archer back toward the center of the arena and causing her to remain on the defensive.

This was when Ruby decided to test out her new move she's been working on. She held her scythe to her body and spanned it out as wide as she could, and started running at full speed around the still recovering Allix.

"What are you…oh no." Allix started to feel the wind pick up as she watched Ruby speed around her in a blur of rose petals.

A tornado started to form at Allix's feet, causing her to be lifted into the air a bit and losing all sense of direction. The tornado continued to grow and lift her into the air, spiraling in the center of the stadium.

Ruby jumped into her storm of rose petals and used her cloak to glide her way around the rushing winds, positioning herself above the flailing archer.

She put all her strength into one final swing, surly ending this battle and taking victory. Ruby slammed the butt of her scythe into Allix's back, sending her flying back down into the arena floor creating a huge shockwave and forming a large crater.

As the wind died down, Ruby landed and took a look up at the screen.

"What, how is she still in the yellow!?"

Allix slowly stood from the crater she found herself to be in, glowing red with energy.

"I used my aura to reduce the damage, now I have just enough to end this!"

In an instant, Allix leaped backward creating as much distance as she could between Ruby and her, while sending a few binding arrows into the red reaper, pinning her in place and stopping her from any movement.

"You said you wanted to see my power?!"

Allix burst with red aura, flickering in every direction and only getting brighter. She reconnected her bow and took a stance, feet firmly planted on the ground and bow held out in front of her. The red energy engulfed her bow and created a huge red glyph in front of the archer.

The red aura around her weapon started to expand, taking the shape of a giant copy of Kryptonite's Arrow that floated in front of her, merging with the glyph.

"This is the end, good match…RUBY ROSE!"

The glyph spun at blinding speeds, glowing brighter and brighter as it spun faster. The giant bow flickered with energy and sent a surge of dust toward the still trapped Ruby, taking the form of a giant red arrow.

Blinding light filled the arena as the energy collided into the body of the immobilized teen, creating a huge shockwave from the impact and propelling her into the wall at insane speed. The impact shook the stadium and cracked the ground beneath Allix from the sheer force of her attack.

"The winner is Allix Stowe!" Glynda announced, revealing that Ruby's aura was now in the red.

Allix ran over toward the still embedded Ruby, pulling her from the wall. Yang and Weiss also ran in and helped the scythe wielder back to the stands.

"That was a good match Ruby. I usually don't have to use that much effort in my battles. You are definitely a worthy opponent." Allix commented, causing Ruby to blush a little from the praise.

"Thank you, and that was an awesome technique! Do you think you can teach me, maybe I can do that with Crescent Rose at some point." Ruby asked weakly, sitting down next to Weiss back in her seat.

Allix chuckled a little, "Sure Ruby, I can teach you. I'm certain that Weiss has taught you a few things about glyph casting before?"

"Yes, in fact I have taught her a speed glyph. However, she never really uses it too much." Weiss said, poking Ruby in her side as she made that comment.

"But it takes too long to cast! Besides, I can just use my semblance to-"

"Ruby! You know that the glyph can make your speed even faster if you use your semblance at the same time!" Weiss interrupted, annoyed at her young leader.

Xera nudged Allix's shoulder, getting the archer's attention, "That was a dust enhancing glyph, but how did you get it to be so powerful?."

"You're very observant, but it has to do with how fast the caster can spin the glyph. I'll tell you about it another time, but for now…I think you're about to be called up to fight." Allix responded, gesturing toward Glynda getting ready to call for the next pair.

"Yang Xiao Long and Xera Stark, please step forward and prepare your weapons." The professor announced, causing all conversations to stop.

"Looks like it's me and you, Xera, are you ready to become my personal punching bag?" Yang taunted, poking fun at the guy in green next to her.

"I'll be happy to oblige, but it's too bad that you're too slow to hit me." He responded, giving the blonde brawler a playful nudge.

"Oh, feisty! I like it, let's see what you can do against someone like me!" Yang retorted, walking down the stairs and into the arena, followed by Xera.

They took their positions and waited for the match to start. Xera stood in a stance with Annivia's Talons in both hands, ready for anything the blonde brawler will throw at him. Yang extended Ember Celica into gauntlet form and slammed her fists together, causing her hair to fly back a bit from the impact.

"Begin!"

Yang release a flurry of dust flares at Xera, who promptly dodged them and weaved through the attacks, running as the floor was being shredded behind him.

Xera reared back his arm and launched one of his boomerangs high into the air, causing the brawly to look at him in confusion and halt her assault for a second.

"Ha, I think you missed there buddy. That thing's going to sail clean over my head!"

While Yang was distracted, Xera chucked his second boomerang straight into the ground, sending it deep into the floor of the arena.

He then stood and waited, watching as Yang stood and glared at him, "Are you throwing the match?"

Just as she spoke, a blade erupted from the ground beneath Yang's feet, slashing upward and sending her into the air, directly into the flight path of the first boomerang. As she flailed around and tried to regain her bearings, she was slashed across the side and was sent tumbling back down to the ground from Xera's weapon.

"I never hold back!" Xera exclaimed, catching his blades and waiting for Yang to recover.

"Oh, you're so going to pay for that!"

Immediately, Yang shot behind her and lunged toward Xera, only to fly straight through his body and tumble to the ground behind him. The hologram faded and Xera appeared next to the downed Yang, dealing a flurry of quick slashes into her body before backing away.

She got up with a grunt, feeling irritated at Xera's tactics. "Come on, why don't _you_ fight me head on!"

"Nope, if I do, it would be suicide to try to face you like that!" Xera responded, switching Annivia's Talons into shotgun form and chambering a round in each.

"Then I'll just have to force you to fight me!"

Yang lunged again, this time making contact with Xera's body, creating a small shock wave from the impact. But Xera didn't take the blunt of the hit, one of his shotguns took the blow while the other was positioned under it, shooting a gravity round into Yang's gut.

She was sent flying up into the air, but thinking quickly she shot a barrage of flares back down toward Xera as she descended. A couple of them hit there mark and sent Xera tumbling backward.

Shooting more rounds, she propelled herself forward and delivered a devastating punch into Xera's stomach, sending him into a few pillars behind him.

"Yep…that…one…hurt." Xera mumbled as he got back up, only to quickly block another punch directed at his head.

"You can definitely take a hit, but can you handle more?!"

With that, Yang sent a barrage of kicks and punches at Xera, who was switching between blade and shotgun mode, parrying all her attacks. He used his shotgun rounds to negate her explosive punches and the blades to redirect the others.

"Nice try, but I'm faster than I look!" Xera exclaimed, slashing across Yang's side.

Yang seemed to be punching even harder now, her hair was flickering slightly with yellow flames.

"No way, are you absorbing my attacks and making that power your own?!" Xera asked, now halting his attack and retreating, realizing what was going on.

"Oh, you realized, huh? Well, it's too late now!"

Yang slammed her fists together, but this time, she sent a fiery shockwave out and every strand of her hair blazed yellow. Her eyes turned red and she charged Xera at lightning speeds, sending a flurry of over-powered punched into the blocking teen.

Xera was being pummeled, he used deception to open a window and made a wide slash at Yang, sending her back a bit from the impact.

He was happy to create a little distance…until both Yang and Xera noticed a strand of yellow hair drop to the floor between them.

"Uh oh-"

"You…you…**YOU MONSTER!"**

Yang exploded in white fire, glowing bright with energy and aura. She planted her foot into the ground and cracked it with the impact, eyes now appearing to be blazing red. Yang charged Xera, creating a crater in the floor behind her as she pushed off, hurtling toward the still weak teen.

"This is going to hurt." Xera mumbled as he stumbled, trying to get out of the way.

***BOOM!***

The entire stadium erupted in fire, filling the arena floor in smoke. Gasps could be heard from the stands and Glynda was interested in what the outcome of the fight was. She was about to call Yang the victor until she stopped herself as the smoke cleared.

Xera stood where he was, one hand clenched around Yang's flaming fist and the other was gripping his boomerangs.

Just at the moment of impact, Xera's aura fluctuated and spiked, reading levels of almost 170% just for an instant before dropping back down into the green. The spike of energy completely negated Yang's attack.

"I don't know what just happened, but I like it." Xera stated as he shifted his grip, releasing Yang's fist and grabbing both his shotguns.

In a split second, he pressed both barrels into Yang's gut and fired, sending her tumbling high into the air. Xera channeled some aura into his legs and leaped upward, meeting Yang in the air and shifting Annivia's Talons back into their blade form.

He delivered a flurry of slashes, spinning and flipping to make his strikes even more powerful. Annivia's Talons were blazing with fire, sending explosions of flames with every swing. Yang was flailing around from the powerful attacks, spinning uncontrollably and somehow being hit from every direction, but she couldn't do anything about it.

As Xera started to fall back down with Yang, he flipped forward, catching Yang's side in the curve of his boomerangs and pulling her down. He flipped forward at high speeds, and as he was about to hit the ground, he lunged his weapons forward with Yang still attached, sending her straight into the ground and completely destroying the arena floor.

The stadium shook as the ground cracked beneath Yang, a shock wave surged from the impact and imploded as it hit the surrounding walls, crushing whatever pillars remained and forming major cracks in every wall.

"And the winner is Xera Stark!" Glynda proclaimed, furiously typing away at her scroll trying to figure out how Xera was able to pull that much aura out of nowhere.

Xera extended his hand toward Yang, who graciously accepted it. He pulled her up and they walked back towards the stands.

"That was a good match Xera. I didn't know you had it in you to block something like that, especially when I get _that_ mad. I can't wait for round 2. I'm definitely going to beat you down next time." Yang commented as they returned to their seats.

"You probably will, but I have no idea where that power came from. It just felt like something surged inside me and gave me more aura." Xera responded, sitting down next to his team.

"Maybe it has something to do with what Vulderak said at the docks." Blake suggested, wondering how much power Xera could be containing within himself.

"I'm not sure, but let's not think about it for now." Xera stated, pushing away any possible questions that may have come up.

"Class is dismissed! The arena is no longer usable, so you have the rest of the day to yourselves. Good battling today students, you gave it your all." Glynda announced, slightly annoyed that the arena got damaged during all the fights.

The three teams left the arena and were brainstorming ideas on what they could do with their free time. Eventually bumping into a certain monkey-faunus as he wandered aimlessly around the halls, joining them since he wasn't doing much else today anyway. They decided to head down into Vale and boarded the first air ship out of Beacon, idly chatting about what happened in the arena as they flew toward the city.

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><p><strong>Halloween<strong>** is closing in, so that means October Fest in this story will also be coming up, so you can expect something to happen in this story. Let me know what you guys think, I'm trying not to make my OC's too overpowered. So I am going to add a lot more abilities to the canon characters, giving them a buff or something like that to even them out with the others. Ruby's tornado was actually inspired by Black Fuego, so go check his stories out. I can't believe how detailed and well thought out his series are, they're insanely good. Anyway, favorite, follow, review, have a good one guys!**


	18. Café Royal with a Secret Musician

**October Fest is coming up, and the next chapter should be up on Friday, which is in 2 days. Hopefully you guys like that, I won't spoil anything because that's just mean. Enjoy the chapter guys!**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 18: Café Royal with a Secret Musician<p>

**Skyla's POV**

Rex, Allix, Xera, Team RWBY, JNPR, and I all headed back to the café where team XSRA and JNPR first officially met. We took up a large section of the café. Almost more than half of it considering its size! I almost felt bad for the one worker there having to take care of 12 people. Almost….

"Hi, I'll have a caramel hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and peppermint shavings." I said, leaning against the counter. The guy glared at me briefly before walking away.

He looked nice…not quite handsome and not quite hideous. I picked up a straw and played with it for a bit, tearing up the paper into little bitty confetti pieces.

The guy came back and glared at me once again seeing the mess I made. "Are you going to clean that up?" he asked curtly.

"This?" I asked motioning to the paper scraps.

"Yeah."

I scooped it up into my hands and walked off towards the table holding my drink in the other hand and took a seat beside Xera, who was happily drinking his coffee. I casually leaned back and held my enclosed fist above his head before shortly releasing the confetti above his head shouting at the top of my lungs, "PARTY!"

I leaned too far back and ended up falling off my chair and onto my butt. I burst into a loud laughter along with everyone else who witnessed what happened, even Xera who still had white speckles in his black hair.

Rex suddenly coughed bringing everyone's attention from my burning face to him.

"I can pick Ren up while he's still in his seat!"

Ren almost spit out his coffee at the mention of his name but couldn't react quickly enough. Rex suddenly picked his chair up with him still sitting on top of it high above his head.

"TADA!" He shouted losing his balance for a moment. Just enough to tilt the chair making Ren slide off it and onto the ground.

"That's okay. I like the floor." He said sitting on the ground.

We all laughed out loud again followed by another glare by the clerk.

"If you don't quiet down I will have to kick all of you out!" He threatened.

And this is when I stopped feeling bad for him. I stood on top of my chair and belted out the loudest lyrics I could manage.

**~ "I CAME IN LIKE A WRECKING BALL!" ~**

**~ "Don't you ever say I just walked away I will always love you." ~** I whispered watching the man slowly back away as I left the room in an eerie silence.

I took in a deep breath.

**~ "I CAME IN LIKE A WREEECCKKIINNGG BALL! I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD HIT THE WALL SO HARD! ALL YOU EVER DID WAS WRECK ME! YOU WRECKED ME!" ~** I shouted at the top if my lungs throwing my arms up into the air.

"That's it! Get out!" He shouted angrily pointing at the door.

"Fine!" I said getting down. "Your hot chocolate was watery anyways!" I said pushing through the front entrance only stopping to briefly look back and shout "AND YOU FORGOT THE PEPPERMINT SHAVINGS!"

We all exited the café and slowly made our way through the streets of Vale thinking of what we're going to do now.

"So….I saw a new Café open up down the street. You down?" Rex asked.

"Ohhh! I saw that!" Ruby shouted excitedly.

"Hey I did too. I saw it earlier after the arena!" Yang added with a fist pump.

"I also saw it on my way through town, it should be open right about now." Sun added.

"Speaking of the arena…what happened there?" I asked referring to Allix and some others.

"Yeah! With Allix and that glyph!" Ruby added.

"Like Weiss?"

"Almost." Allix chuckled.

* * *

><p><strong>Xera POV<strong>

"Weiss uses a more…elemental approach when it comes to glyphs. Allix used a dust enhancing one, so the glyph itself doesn't actually generate its own dust." I informed.

"Yes, that is true. But I use more than just elemental glyphs." Weiss huffed, crossing her arms as we walked.

We turned the corner and found the newly opened café. Upon walking in, a bell jingled signaling that costumers had just entered.

"Hello! Welcome to Café Royal, home of all coffee combinations and more!"

A chirpy bartender exclaimed as we all filed through the door.

"My name is Anna, how can I help you?" She asked, gesturing us to come up to the counter.

The girl was our age, about 17 and was a fox faunus. Two brown fox ears poked up out of her ginger-hair, which extended a little past her shoulders. She owned a pair of bright crimson eyes and wore a skin tight, white, sleeveless top underneath a light brown leather jacket, a small orange battle skirt and white boots that go a little below the knees.

"Sweet, I love these kinds of places." Sun exclaimed.

"So…you have anything and everything?!" Skyla asked, teeming with excitement.

"Yup!"

Skyla gasped and ran up to the counter, "In that case, I'll have a caramel hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and peppermint shavings!?"

"Skyla, I don't think that qualifies as coffee." Pyrrha spoke up, but the girl paid no attention to the Spartan warrior as Anna started going to work preparing Skyla's request.

"Here you go! Now…who's next?"

Skyla gladly took her hot chocolate, paid, and raced off to one of the round tables.

Everyone ordered their own drinks, some of them I never even heard of and some were all too common but with a little twist. It didn't matter what we ordered, the girl behind the counter prepared and served every request we threw at her, even Weiss's odd request that sounded as if it came from a random foreign island off the Coast of Ebony Island.

"Thank you for the drinks, by the way, are you the owner of this café? I asked as I paid for mine.

"Yes, and it's new here. My parents were merchants and always had a knack for Cafés." Anna responded.

"_Were…they were merchants. I don't see them around anywhere, but there are a few pictures of them on the back shelf." _I thought as she finished putting away my money.

"Well, I'm glad Café Royal has such amazing service. Again, thank you for everything and have a good one." I gave her a warm smile and started to walk off.

"You too!" Anna called out behind me as I walked toward my friends.

Rex was currently trying to balance both Nora and Skyla on his shoulders, both of which were also in their chairs and were currently flailing their arms trying to keep their balance.

"See…I…told you…I could do it!" Rex exclaimed.

"Nicely done." Ren said, pulling out 15 lien.

Rex gently placed Skyla and Nora back down and grabbed the newly earned money from Ren.

"Thanks you for this, and next time…think _bigger_." The grey haired teen said as he returned to his seat.

I sat down next to Blake and sipped my cappuccino.

"Sooooo…what are you reading?"

The cat-faunus looked up from her book, "It's about a boy with white hair. He possessed immense power, enough power to kill a god. His name is Dante, and he used all his power up defeating a powerful foe and is now training to become a warrior. He was banished with no power left and is currently fighting off some sort of dark force with the help of his friends."

"Oh, I read that too, although I'm still waiting for the next book to be released in the series." I said.

"Really, what did you think?" Blake asked, interested to find a fellow fan of one of her favorite authors.

"Well, I loved it. Especially a lot of the origins series, those were amazing."

"I loved those books too, the way he wrote about Dante's past was just genius. I couldn't stop reading." She exclaimed, almost reaching the point of a fan girl.

"Haha, yeah. I know what you mean, Andy really knows how to write his works." I stated, taking another sip of my drink.

Blake closed her book and slid it over toward Xera for him to read the title, "Check this out."

I read the title and my eyes widened, "No way! You got the next book in the series, it's not even supposed to be released for another month!"

"The book store I go to has a way of stocking up on the popular books, and even ships new orders in before they come out publically." She said, pulling the book back into her grasp.

"Really, what's it called?"

"Tukson's Book Trade, it's my favorite book store."

"Sweet, I'll be sure to check it out some time. I need to get myself a copy." I responded, interested in finding this new book store.

"I'll take you there some time, Tukson knows me, and I'm sure he can get you one of the new copies." Blake said, putting the book into her bag.

We finished our drinks and waved goodbye to Anna, she wished us good well and we walked out the front doors. Everyone content on returning here, making Café Royal our new 'go to' hang out.

"So, who wants to go to the music store?" Rex asked.

"Sure, I'll go." I said.

Sun, Allix, Blake, Skyla, Pyrrha, and Jaune all joined Rex and I.

"We're going to head back to Beacon, we need to help prep for October Fest." Ruby stated, gesturing towards Weiss, Yang, Ren and Nora.

"Alright, we'll see you guys tonight." Jaune called out as we turned our separate ways.

* * *

><p><strong>3<strong>**rd**** Person**

Team XSRA, Sun, Blake, Pyrrha and Jaune all headed towards the music store.

They entered and browsed the aisles, looking at all the different instruments displayed across the walls and glass counters.

"So, do you play?" Blake asked Xera as he picked up a guitar.

"I have a little skill in the music department." He responded.

"Can you play something for us?" Skyla asked.

Xera looked up and noticed all of his friends staring at him in anticipation, there were other costumers in the store as well but he didn't mind a small audience…especially if it's just for his friends.

"Sure, why not."

Xera started strumming the strings on the guitar, deftly switching notes and playing with the beat he set with his tapping foot. His seemingly expert knowledge of the guitar was surprising, but what caught everyone off guard was that Xera started to sing along.

**~ We wake up by the sunrise, ~**

**And you're staring back at me.**

…

**I hold on to the moment,**

**As we cast it out to sea.**

…

**And the lights come on…the lights come on,**

**Reflecting off your skin.**

…

**So burning stars…are all we are,**

**Ignited from within.**

…

**It's your heart and soul,**

**It's your flesh and bones,**

**Don't you let it go-o-o!**

…

**You're the star I'll find,**

**Bursting through my sky,**

**Taking all control!**

**It's your heart and soul!**

…

**It's your heart and soul!**

…

**~ (Instrumental) ~**

Xera started playing through the instrumental part of the song, as he played his aura started to do one of the most bizarre things. Every time he strummed a tune, the string would glow like an ember in a fire, every note that was played would send small tendrils of orange light, like a fire flickering in the night.

Not only were his friends enjoying the music, but every costumer walked over and listened in. Pretty soon, people from outside the store filed in and a small crowd started to form in front of Xera as he played.

**~ It's your heart and soul, ~**

**It's your flesh and bones,**

**Don't you let it go-o-o!**

…

**You're the star I'll find,**

**Bursting through my sky,**

**Taking all control!**

**It's your heart and soul!**

…

**If you're lost, I will pull you,**

**From the places that you seek.**

…

**Fly away from the darkness,**

**To a paradise we dreamed.**

…

**And the lights still shine,**

**The lights still shine,**

**Reflecting off our skin.**

…

**So burning stars…are all we are,**

**Igniting from within.**

…

**It's your heart and soul,**

**It's your flesh and bones,**

**Don't you let it go!**

…

**You're the star I'll find,**

**Bursting through my sky,**

**Taking all control!**

**It's your heart and soul!**

…

**It's your heart and soul!**

…

**(Another Instrumental)**

…

**We'll be shining…we'll be shining,**

**We'll be shining tonight.**

…

**It's your heart and soul,**

**It's your flesh and bone,**

**Don't you let it go-o-o!**

…

**You're the star I'll find,**

**Bursting through my sky,**

**Taking all control!**

**It's your heart and soul!**

…

**It's your heart and soul!**

…

**We'll be shining…we'll be shining,**

**We'll be shining tonight.**

…

**We'll be shining…we'll be shining,**

**~ We'll be shining tonight. ~**

As Xera finished strumming the last few notes on his guitar, he looked up and noticed the crowd. He got so absorbed into the music that he didn't even realize the new people who gathered around him, about 40 or so people were packed into the music store.

Most of them were already holding out pens and various objects for him to sign.

Xera noticed this and as he plucked the last note of his guitar, he spun it around and placed it against the floor, leaned against it and saluted the crowd. This confirmed a lot of their suspicions and proved that they knew who this guy was. This also left all Xera's friends with baffled expressions as they looked in awe at their usually reserved friend.

But before anything happened, the base of Xera guitar started to glow red and started to spin. Xera spun his instrument and created a thick, harmless smoke screen for him to grab his friends and escape through the back, leaving the guitar balancing where he once stood.

"So…that was a thing." He said as he guided his friends out of the alley.

Silence…

"Ummm…guys?"

"OH. MY. GOSH! You were amazing!" Skyla exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air.

"When you said you could play, I'd never have guessed that you were actually _that_ skilled!" Rex stated.

"Holy Crap, you're him!" Jaune said, pointing an accusing finger at Xera.

"I…Never thought I would ever meet you…let alone become your friend!" He continued.

Xera face palmed a bit, realizing he was in the presence of a fan.

"I listened to _all_ of your music, back when you still played. You had like, 14 record deals offered to you and you turned them all down! Not even a second thought!" Jaune exclaimed.

"What can I say, I just played for personal reasons. No need to gain any money off of it." Xera responded.

"What do you mean by personal reasons?" Blake asked.

Xera sighed a bit and gave them the answer, "It was just a way of coping, you know, to help me get through my family's death."

"Oh…I'm sorry I asked."

"No worries, it actually really helped. I posted music for a few years before I started training to become a huntsman. I had one final release and then disappeared." Xera said.

Everyone continued down the sidewalk and started heading back to Beacon.

"So…what was your name? It obviously wasn't your real name." Allix asked.

"I went by XnS, simple as that." Xera responded.

"And it was the coolest name ever! I was obsessed with it for a while." Jaune said.

Sun split off from the group, calling back something about finding Neptune.

"See ya around Sun, thanks for hanging out!" Xera yelled as Sun ran off.

"We should get some sleep, October Fest is tomorrow and we have to be up early to set up a few stands in the morning." Pyrrha informed.

"Right, let's head back then." Jaune stated.

"We'll come too." Rex said.

"I'll head back as well, might as well since you're all going." Blake added.

Everyone headed back to the Beacon Airship and boarded the vessel, taking off back to the academy. All of them excited for October Fest tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>There we go, chapter 18 done! I introduced a new character, she may come in here and there, maybe even join Beacon...you just never know with these things. October Fest is in 2 days, so...you have that to look forward to. Anyway, have a good one guys, enjoy life, and follow...favorite...review...all is appreciated.<strong>

**...**

**Xera's Song: 'Heart and Soul' - Built by Titan**

**Story Reference: 'Hero of Remnant' - By andy2396 (Believe me when I say, this guy's story is amazing. I seriously enjoyed reading what he has and he just keeps updating! Its insane(ly) awesome! Go check him out.)**


	19. October Fest has Arrived!

**Happy Halloween! Yeah...so this is a thing, and this is the longest chapter I've ever written...so far.**

* * *

><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 19: October Fest has Arrived!<p>

**3****rd**** Person**

A cool breeze rushed over Vale, whisking away fallen leaves all along the streets of the city. The sun peaked over the horizon as a new day awakened, greeting Vytal to a new holiday, a day of celebration. Almost all of the students of Beacon were sound asleep, enjoying whatever hours they have before festivities start…except for one, particularly energetic student. She stood before her sleeping team, panning her gaze across their dorm room.

Their two windows let in the first rays of the sun, racing across the bed sheets and causing a few of the team members to stir in their sleep. This was it…that was the signal. The Festival has officially started and there was no way they were going to miss a single minute of it. After all, it is October Fest.

She pulled out her black, twin katanas and gripped the handles, holding them out to her sides at arm's length. Her grip tightened as she pulsed her aura into the dangling ribbons below the hilts of her blades, causing them to come alive and slowly glide across the floor of the room, gradually approaching the three remaining teens.

The purple ribbons climbed each bed and gripped onto the blankets, ready to yank them away at any second…but first, she approached the window. As she slid the window up, she felt the cool air rush into the dorm room, a gentle breeze rustling her hair as she took in a deep breath. Without another thought, she yanked her ribbons.

***Thump!***

* * *

><p><strong>Xera POV<strong>

I woke up to the sound of something big and heavy hitting the floor and my blanket being ripped from my grasp.

Opening my eyes, I noticed Rex on the floor with a ribbon wrapped around his leg and Allix shaking while hugging herself and trying to reach for her warm blanket.

"Wakey Wakey guys! It's October Fest!" Skyla cheered as she retracted her ribbons from everyone.

"Why couldn't you have woken us up gently, not freeze us to death?!" Allix questioned, frantically covering herself with her toasty blanket, immediately feeling comfortable again.

"Awwww, but where's the fun in _that_?" She answered.

The two girls went quiet as they heard someone snoring, they both turned towards me but quickly realized that I was awake. Their gaze turned to a certain spiked-haired tank laying on the ground, face buried into the floor.

***Snore***

"Why is he on the floor?" Allix questioned.

I cleared my throat and gained the archer's attention, "Skyla pulled him out of bed with her ribbon, but apparently he's still asleep." I informed.

Skyla, realizing that she accidently pulled Rex out of bed instead of his blanket, hid her swords behind her back and kicked the floor sheepishly.

"I didn't mean to, I aimed for the blanket." She whined.

"Relax, he's still asleep so no harm done. Now wake him up, we need to get ready." I stated.

I got out of bed and took a shower, changed and stepped out of the bathroom.

"Xera, Rex, go wake up the other teams while we get ready." Skyla said, digging through the closet for something to wear.

Rex and I stepped out into the hallway and closed the door. We both stepped up to different rooms, Rex stood in front of team RWBY's dorm and I took the liberty of waking up team JNPR.

Raising my fist, I knocked on the door. After a few seconds, I heard shuffling from the inside and the turning of the lock. The door opened revealing a slouching teen with blonde hair and bunny slippers.

"Wha-" He interrupted himself with a yawn before continuing, "What's with the early wakeup call?"

"Skyla wants everyone to wake up now so we can start the festivities down in Vale." I answered.

Jaune shifted and leaned against the door frame, pondering what the most logical thing to do would be. "Alright, I'll wake my team up. We'll be ready soon."

The door closed and I looked over toward Rex, as soon as I saw him I burst into a fit of laughter.

"Dude…Rex…What happened!?"

Rex was half-frozen in a block of ice. He turned toward me and uttered one word, "Weiss."

"Oh…that makes sense. I guess she's not much of a morning person." I got a hold of myself and stopped my laughing fit. I melted the ice off of Rex and we waited for the rest of our friends to get ready.

* * *

><p><strong>3<strong>**rd**** Person**

Pretty soon everyone was ready, team's RWBY and JNPR all stood in the lounge along with team XSRA.

"So who's ready for candy, and sugar, and soda, and all things sweet?!" Nora exclaimed, already excited for all the possibilities down in Vale.

"Oh oh oh oh, I can't wait for candy! You have no idea, if you think I'm energetic now…just wait until I feast on all sorts of candy!" Skyla stated, jumping up and down.

"I know right, you guys are going to have to hold me down because there's no way I won't be bouncing off the walls today, literally!" Nora added, jumping with her energetic friend.

Ren shot a knowing glance at Rex and Jaune, the two teens nodded their understanding and stood up.

Before anyone else knew what was going on, the two energetic girls were tackled to the ground. A flurry of ropes flew everywhere as the three boys attempted to tie up the potential life ruining causes of the day.

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" Skyla yelled, struggling under Jaune as Ren tied her up.

"THERE'S NO WAY I WON'T BE GETTING MY CANDY! DO YOU HEAR ME?! YOU'LL PAY FOR THI-" Nora was cut off as Ren tied her up as well.

"I'm sorry Nora, but you are far too dangerous when you have a sugar high. Do you remember the last October Festival we went to?" Ren said, giving Nora and Skyla an apologetic stare.

"Of course I remember! That guy tried to steal my candy so I threw him through a couple buildings, nothing big." The bubbly bomber responded, disappointed that she won't get her candy.

"Oh you should have seen what I did to this one guy who took my kit-kat. Luckily he somehow ended up crashing through the wall to the emergency room!" Skyla stated.

"And that is why you're tied up too. Sorry Skyla, but it's for the best." Rex said.

Soon, the two teens where placed back in a dorm room with food and drinks but every exit was barricaded from the outside, permanently stuck in there until they were let out.

The rest of the teens boarded the air ship and headed off to Vale, ready for whatever the day has in store for them.

* * *

><p><strong>Xera POV<strong>

We landed and walked off the vessel, taking in the amazing sights of Vale as we approached the city. Every street was decorated with colors and flags, windows hung banners out and people flooded the streets. Every store had October Fest decorations up in their windows and were giving out free candy for the festival.

"This is so cool!" Ruby exclaimed, dashing to the first store to grab some candy.

"Ruby! Calm down!" Weiss called as she ran after the cloaked girl.

We spent most of the time walking the streets of Vale, enjoying the different decorations and occasionally stopping to snack on some sweets that different bakeries offered for the festival.

"You guys want to head to the city park, I hear the trees there are beautiful at this time of year." Pyrrha suggested.

"Sure, I'm in." Jaune said.

"Why not." I added, joining them.

Everyone decided to tag along as we started to head off towards the park. That was until I noticed that Rex was gone.

"Hey, has anyone seen Rex?" I asked as we walked.

"Nope, he must have walked off somewhere." Allix answered.

I just shrugged and continued walking, but I could sense that something was happening behind me.

Turning around, I noticed that a second person was missing, "Where's Jaune?"

"Huh, I swear he was just here a moment ago." Pyrrha said.

An eerie breeze blew through the street and the sky darkened a bit, signaling that is was starting to get dark. The shadows seemed to becoming increasingly darker as well, even _I_ couldn't see into the alley ways.

"He probably got distracted by something." Ruby said.

"_I doubt that, but I can't do anything until I know what's going on."_ I thought as we entered the park.

The park was indeed beautiful, the trees blazed yellow and orange and the leaves seemed to be falling endlessly onto the grass below. The grass expanded across a few hundred acres and trees were spread out all over the place, pathways intertwining and weaving through the park and benches spaced out everywhere. At the center was a stone courtyard, benches around the outside of the large circle.

We just stared at the sight before us for a while, taking in all its beauty.

"This really is beautiful, Pyrrha." Ruby stated, not getting an answer.

"Pyrrha?"

I turned and noticed that Pyrrha was gone, and so was Yang.

"Yang?!" The young leader cried out, fearing the worst.

"Guys, I think we shoul-" Ruby was cut off as two black tendrils shot out from the bushes, wrapping around the cloaked girl and swiftly pulling her away in the blink of an eye.

"Run! We're being hunted!" I yelled, rushing for the courtyard for better visual through the trees.

"I didn't see anyone so I don't know who's behind this, even with my enhanced sight!" Blake called out behind me.

Ren, Allix, and Weiss followed behind her, all of us making our way through the trees and into the courtyard.

"We made it-" Weiss was suddenly yanked into the tree line by another set of tendrils, immediately after she disappeared, Allix was pulled away as well, leaving just Blake, Ren and I left.

"Guys, stand back to back. We need to keep a look out for the next attack!" I commanded, all of us taking a stand in the center of the stone circle.

I waited for something, anything, just a signal, a sound…

***Snap***

"There!" I yelled as the tendrils shot out from behind the tree I pointed at.

Blake dodged the attack and Ren followed up by grabbing hold of the tendrils. As he stood his ground, I ran over and grabbed them as well, pulling as hard as I could alongside Ren.

Out of the bushes tumbled two shadows, both with menacing faces and scary attributes. They didn't look like Grimm, and they weren't with the White Fang, so just what are they…

One of the shadows stood and started launching grenades at us, Blake dove to the right and I dove to the left along with Ren. We tumbled to our feet and Ren unleashed a hail of bullets from Storm Flower, his twin machine pistols.

"Blake! Get in close, I'll hold it off!" He called out as he circled around to the left.

Blake nodded in agreement and dashed toward the grenadier, ready to attack but only to be blocked by the second shadow, which was holding two blades.

I ran in after Blake and followed up with a swipe with Annivia's Talon, catching the first shadow off guard and halting its explosive assault.

"Why are you attacking us?!" I asked, trying to find answers as we clashed.

"Because it's fun!" It responded in an oddly familiar voice.

"_Wait…is that?"_ Realization struck me as I backed away.

"Guys! This is bad…really really bad!" I yelled.

"What is it?!" Blake called back as she traded swipes with the second shadow.

I looked toward Ren and he gave me one of the most petrifying glances ever…of all time. He looked both mortified and annoyed at the same time, "This is what I was afraid of." He mumbled.

"Blake! Be careful, this is Nora and Skyla…but they somehow got out and found candy. And by the looks of it…they found the jackpot!" I informed, preparing for another clash with the now recognized Nora.

"Here I come!" Nora yelled as she switched Magnhild into hammer form and swung it at me.

I blocked but was thrown back by the force of the attack, staggering a bit as I found my footing. Ren joined the battle as well and he started sending a barrage of slashes at Nora, but she somehow blocked every hit and slammed her hammer into Ren's gut, sending him high into the air.

"_Somehow her speed and strength is increased, could candy really do that to someone?"_ I thought as I charged in again, going into a sword grind against Nora's hammer.

"Nora, you have to stop. Just focus…come on focus! Don't let the candy control you!"

Nora spun her hammer, breaking free of the clash and taking a wide swing at my upper body. I ducked under the attack and continued the assault.

Blake was currently battling a horrifyingly hyper Skyla, whose speed was increased beyond comprehension. She might even be right behind Ruby when it comes to a race.

"Skyla, we're your friends! The candy can't win…you have to fight this!" Blake exclaimed, parrying a barrage of swipes that were coming at her at blinding speeds.

"Ren, you take on Nora! I'll go help Blake!"

"On it!"

I gave one final swing and kicked Nora back a bit before switching out with Ren. Immediately he delivered a fierce punch into the pink girls gut, pushing her back even farther.

Running over to Skyla and Blake, they were in the middle of another ribbon duel. They were grabbing random boulders, benches, trashcans, small trees and random bystanders from the sidelines and sending them flying into each other with the use of their respected weapons.

"Blake, throw me!" I yelled as I ran to her side.

"What?!"

"Trust me, I have a plan." I reassured.

* * *

><p><strong>3<strong>**rd**** Person**

Blake nodded and retracted her ribbons from a nearby tree, wrapping them around Xera instead.

"I hope you know what you're doing." She said as she spun, swinging Xera and getting ready to throw him.

"_Here goes nothing."_ Xera thought as he spun, suddenly he was released and sent hurtling toward Skyla, who was currently throwing a very large boulder back at Xera.

In midair, Xera started to spin as fast as he can, pushing out as much aura as he could before impact. His aura glowed around him and his entire body blazed with fire, he literally became a spinning fire ball as he and the boulder collided.

***BOOM!***

The boulder shattered and Xera continued to hurtle toward Skyla, in a split second he collided into Skyla's chest, knocking her to the ground with Xera tumbling off to the side, the fire around him dying down.

"Whoa…that…went…better than expected." He said as he stumbled toward Skyla, the spinning obviously having an effect on him.

Skyla groaned in pain as she reached for her weapons, only to be wrapped in a black ribbon from Gambol Shroud. Blake approached the downed teen and kicked her swords away.

"Nicely done, I have to admit…I'm impressed." Blake said as Xera walked up and joined them.

Ren and Nora were still fighting, clashing and trading blows from every direction.

"You hold Skyla down, I'm going to help Ren." Xera said, walking off again to join another fight.

"Be careful." Blake said quietly, oddly worried about Xera's wellbeing.

"I'll be fine."

Xera ran over to the clashing pair and threw both his boomerangs at Nora's feet, pulling her footing out from under her and causing her to tumble to the ground.

Ren, seeing the opening, immediately delivered a quick jab and snatched Magnhild away from the downed teen.

"There, now she won't be as deadly." He said, tossing away the giant hammer.

Xera caught his boomerangs and walked up to Ren's side, Nora slowly stood up as well.

"So…how did you usually turn her back to herself?" Xera asked.

"I just hit her really hard in the head." Ren shrugged, oddly okay with this tactic.

"Really?"

"Yup, it's the only way."

Xera and Ren charged Nora, who was currently weaponless. Ren sent a few jabs and kicks into the girl, who blocked and evaded all of them and kicked Ren back a few feet before switching to Xera.

Xera was in mid-swing as Nora sent her fist into his gut, making him buckle over straight into her knee. His aura protected him for the most part, but the pain was certainly there.

Nora kicked Xera away and ducked under a high kick from Ren, who was trying desperately to land a hit on her head.

Xera groaned in pain and stood up, switching his weapons into their Model 1887 shotgun forms and charged again. Nora saw this and kicked Ren's feet out from under him, causing him to be airborne momentarily before being punched in the side and sent straight toward Xera.

Xera ducked and slide under Ren, who tumbled to a stop on the ground behind him. Xera side rolled to avoid a devastating stomp from Nora's boot and jumped to avoid a low sweeping kick. In the air, Xera aimed both his shotguns at Nora's head.

Time seemed to slow down as Xera pulled the trigger. Nora's eyes widened as she was unexpectedly launched backward into a tree by a strong gravity force, slamming her back straight into the hard trunk.

Xera landed back on the ground and ran over to Ren, offering him a hand and pulling him to his feet.

"Did…did you land a hit?" He asked, coughing and trying to swallow as much air as he could.

"Yeah, she's out cold." Xera stated.

Ren gave a relieved sigh, knowing that another city is saved from possible destruction.

Ren walked over to where Nora's unconscious body laid. He picked her up bridal style and starting carrying her back to the other three teens in the courtyard, one of which was still tied up.

"Where are they!?"

"I'll never tell you!"

"Tell me where they are!"

"NEVER!"

Xera and Blake were currently interrogating Skyla for the location of the rest of their friends.

"I'll make you my peanut-butter trifle, how does that sound?" Xera offered.

Blake looked at the boy in the green sweatshirt, "You can bake?"

Xera smirked a little and shrugged his shoulders, "I have a little skill."

"And by that, you mean you're a master." She added.

"Yup!"

Skyla pondered this request for a while, eventually coming to a decision. "They're tied up behind the Funnel Cake stand."

"Thank you." Xera said before shooting a weakened gravity round into the tied up girl, knocking her out cold as well.

"I'll carry her, you go get the rest and meet us back at Beacon. We should make it in time for the party." He said while picking up Skyla.

"Alright, we'll meet you there." Blake said, taking off toward the Funnel Cake stand.

Ren walked up with Nora in his arms, "We heading back to Beacon?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, let's go then."

-_30 Minutes Later_-

The three teams made it back to Beacon, two members were currently passed out in their respected beds from candy overloads. Those two being the same two who caused so much trouble down in Vale, that being Nora and Skyla.

Everyone else was in the ballroom, enjoying the music, disco ball, and various foods all over the borders of the room. Every student in Beacon was here dancing and hanging out, everyone having a good time…although Xera seemed a little bored.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked, approaching Xera's side. He was currently leaning against a far wall, away from the crowd.

"Never really like parties." He responded simply.

"Yeah, neither have I." Blake said.

"You know, we never got around to that spin the bottle game. Skyla and Nora kind of held us up in Vale." Xera said, actually seeming kind of relieved.

"Thank goodness for that, I'm horrified to know what Yang had in store for that."

Xera chuckled a little, causing Blake to smile as well. "Yeah, knowing Yang, she would definitely have had it rigged somehow and would cause some extremely awkward moments." He added.

They both laughed a little, enjoying each other's company.

"Come on, I want to show you something." Xera grabbed Blake's hand and pulled her out the ballroom doors.

They walked through the halls and came across a large doorway. Behind the door was a spiral staircase that leads to one of the many rooftops of Beacon.

* * *

><p><strong>Xera POV<strong>

I pulled her through the door leading out onto the roof. We walked out into the brisk air and were greeted by a gentle breeze that blew across the rooftop.

"Why are we up here?" Blake asked.

I let go of her hand and walked over to the ledge, "Take a look."

She followed my lead and looked out across the city of Vale, "Whoa." She gasped at the sight. "It's beautiful."

Vale was lit up in all kinds of colors, flags waved and the night sky was filled with glowing stars, clear as day. The moon was tinted orange, giving the lands below a magnificent glow. All this created one of the most magnificent sights anyone could ever see from a city.

"Yeah, I come up here a lot, just for the view. I also play music up here, sometimes, as well." I said.

We looked out across the city for a while, just enjoying the view. I sat down on a nearby bench and Blake joined me, although she was sitting kind of close.

I started to blush a little as she scooted closer and snuggled into my side, pressing a lot of her body into mine. At this point, my face was completely red.

"Wha-what…are you do-ing?" I stuttered.

"It's cold up here." She answered simply.

Blake rested her head against my shoulder and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth my aura sent out. I caught myself staring at her, just admiring how her ebony hair and how it glistened in the moonlight.

"_Wait…why do I keep looking at her? Why does my chest feel like it's about to explode?"_ I thought as I looked away, placing a hand against my chest and feeling my rapid heart rate.

I cleared my throat to try to reclaim my voice, "Do you want to head inside, it's getting late?"

"Nah, I'm really enjoying your company." Blake responded, snuggling into my side and clinging onto my arm.

"Alright then."

* * *

><p><strong>Skyla POV<strong>

I woke up to a sharp throbbing pain in my head, "Gah! What happened?" I asked myself as I painfully got out of my bed.

The room was dark and the rest of the beds were empty, _"They must all be at the party."_ I thought as I stumbled into the kitchen in search for an ice pack.

I opened the freezer door and pulled out a large blue ice pack. As I walked back to my bed I placed the ice against my head, immediately feeling the pain dull and numb away, leaving me to feel much more relaxed.

My eyes stumbled across a note on the floor by the door. _"Someone must have slipped it under the door, hmmmm…addressed to Xera."_

I thought about it for a little while, eventually deciding to carefully open the note and peak inside. The card read, "_Meet me at these coordinates in the Emerald Forest at noon tomorrow, come alone…people will get hurt otherwise._"

There was no name, it was completely anonymous. _"I'll just put the not on Xera's bed, hopefully he reads it soon. This seems really important…and frankly, kind of scary."_

I put away the ice pack and collapsed back into bed, immediately letting sleep take over and fell deeper into unconsciousness.

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><p><strong>Oh hey look, a little bit of romance, a little bit of suspense, yeah. I'm trying out the romance thing, but most of it will be up to Sky...she's the romantic one ;p. Anyway, Happy Halloween guys, I hope you had a good day and enjoyed tons of candy + costumes. The thing with the note at the end will hopefully come up in the next chapter, yeah if you don't already know where this is heading...check out chapter 1. I sorta put it off for a while, sorry for that, but hey...it's coming up. Hope you guys liked the chapter, it's the longest one so far. Have a good one guys, favorite, follow, review, cya!<strong>


	20. Risky Loose-Ends

**Whoa, chapter 20! This is insane! We're also approaching the 50,000 word count mark and the 1000 view count mark, this is just awesome. Thank you to all those who decided today was the day to read this story, because that support is unbelievable. Please leave a review and tell me what you think, now this just leaves one question...have you ever played 'Risk'?**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 20: Risky Loose-Ends<p>

**Skyla POV**

"General Sky, troops are advancing on the southern and eastern borders, what are your orders?"

I looked at the map that sat in front of me, "Lieutenant, gather the troops and mass them in Greenland, we make our stand there."

"But that would render the rest of America defenseless?!"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." I declared, finalizing my order.

"It's risky, how do you know it will work?"

I glared at the lieutenant that stood before me, "Risk is an illusion lieutenant, it is simply how lucky you are. Now go, gather the troops! At dawn…WE RIDE!"

"Yes, General."

After the lieutenant gathered all my remaining troops in Greenland, we waited for the offensive troops to push their way into our country to try to claim our land.

"Lieutenant!" I demanded.

"Yes, General Sky?"

"Who leads the charge against our borders?"

"General Rex and his men approach from the south, and General Allix and her men approach from the east." He answered.

I contemplated their possible skill in the warzone and made my decision, "Prepare for battle! They've arrived."

Upon the horizon, hundreds of soldiers marched into the battle field, preparing to charge the front lines. There at the front, sat upon a horse, stood General Rex. The mass of men marched forward and readied their weapons.

Looking to the east, fleets of battle ships and cruisers approached, gathering and massing to attack my flank. General Allix stood behind the wheel of the first ship, ready to begin this war.

"The odds don't appear to be in our favor. Do we dare try defending against such forces?" My lieutenant asked.

"Dude, we're not in the hunger games, besides…WE HAVE GREENLAND!" I gave my answer and signaled my men to charge the two armies.

"**CHARGE!"**

A fierce battle broke out from all sides of the continent, Allix and her fleets bombarded the borders and sent troops in from the east. Skyla and her men marched to battle against Rex, a mass of soldiers collided in the warzone and downed men littered the battle field.

"General Sky, what shall we do about Allix and her men, we cannot hold off against both armies at once."

"Grrrr…two on one just isn't fair." I growled.

My troops slowly started to dwindle, my remaining army stood around me, about 100 men ready to take on the world.

***BOOM!***

Mortar shells and canon blasts echoed through the air. Suddenly, Rex's army started to explode and dwindle in size. Huge clusters of men disappearing from sight as Rex stood surprised at the sudden sneak attack.

"You're right! Two on one just isn't fair…so let's even the odds!" General Xera stood with his army of soldiers, bombarding Rex's army as he attacked the back lines of the mass of enemies.

"Glad you could make it, and thank you for the back up!" I responded, glad that I won't be too horribly slaughtered.

"Hey…what are partners for? Now, how about a little reinforcements." Xera called back, immediately another mass of men approached Allix and her fleet from the east, countering her raid on the shores.

"At first light on the fifth day, look to the east, and more will come." He called out, starting his charge into the remaining hordes of men under Rex's command. His troops began their assault at the east as well, fighting off the fleets under Allix's control.

The battlefield became a blood bath, troops dropped in every direction, battalions were killed in action everywhere, whole squadrons slaughtered under the wrath of Xera's army.

General Skyla and Xera stood victorious on the hill overlooking the warzone below, "Looks like you saved me, thanks." I said, gazing out at the remains of America.

"Don't worry about it. That army took me a little while to build up, Asia isn't an easy place to defend you know." Xera responded.

"Yeah…well it was worth it." I said, looking up into the sky and noticed the sun. "Wow, it's noon already. It feels like I just woke up."

Xera gazed out across the lands once more before mounting his horse, "It appears the time has come, I have a meeting to get to."

"Alright, see ya later, Xera." I looked across the table at the other two members of our team, "Soooo…since you guys are the losers, can you clean up the board game?"

Rex gave a grunt but started gathering the pieces to Xera's army and began storing them in the game box, Allix soon joined him although looked a little peeved that her plan didn't work.

"Thank you! I'm gonna go celebrate this victory with ice cream!" I exclaimed, running out of the dorm room and towards the cafeteria.

* * *

><p><strong>Xera POV<strong>

I walked out of my team's dorm room and walked down the hall a little before knocking on team RWBY's door.

The door opened and Blake stepped out, gambol shroud strapped to her back. "I still don't want you to come with me, but since I can't make you stay here, then just be careful out there." I stated as we walked through the lounge and down the stairs.

"Hey, there's no way you should go meet this guy alone. And if anything happens, I can back you up." Blake said as we walked.

-_Earlier that day_-

I knocked on the door to Ozpin's office, "Enter." Was called from inside, signaling me to come in.

"Ah, Xera. What can I help you with?"

I showed him the note and waited for a response. "It seems he wants to talk after all, although I don't think you should go alone."

"Then what do you suggest I do?" I asked.

He gave it some thought before typing away at the scroll he had installed into his desk, a few minutes passed before a knock sounded from the door.

"Enter." Ozpin called out, granting the person access.

"You called headmaster?" Blake asked, stepping into the room and taking the seat to the right of Xera.

"Yes, I have a mission for you. Considering your abilities, you should be the only one stealthy enough to back up Xera during his meeting with…an old acquaintance." Ozpin informed.

"Ozpin, don't bring my friends into this. They don't need to get put in danger because of me." Xera argued.

"Xera, they are already in danger. And you will not be allowed to meet this man alone, now Blake Belladonna, do you accept this assignment?" He stated, clearly expressing his authority in this situation.

"Yes, I accept." Blake said, glancing at Xera before standing up.

-_Back to Xera and Blake as they headed out_-

We stepped into the emerald forest, slowly approaching the coordinates that were written on the back of the card.

"When we get there, you need to stay hidden. I don't think this guy takes it lightly when people go against his rules." I stated as we walked through the trees.

"Don't worry about me, I was with the White Fang for years so you can expect me to be unseen." Blake responded, following alongside me.

We continued walking toward the meeting point, "Listen, about last night…" Blake started.

I turned my gaze away from her direction, attempting to hide a blush that was creeping up on my face.

"I want to say this now, you know…before it's too late." She continued, a little flustered.

She went quiet as we approached a clearing with a tall man in the center, he wore a black trench coat with white trim, spiked white shoulder guards with what looked like emblems on them. He had a white under shirt on and black trousers, along with black boots with white laces.

"I'll tell you later, good luck." Blake whispered before silently disappearing into the brush.

Upon stepping into the clearing, the atmosphere immediately became tense and the man that stood in the center turned to meet my gaze.

"Xera Stark, glad you could make it." He spoke. He looked and sounded to be about 18 or 19 and his eyes were blood red.

I stopped a few meters in front of him, "Hello…Zerath. Been a long time."

His eyes narrowed a bit before responding, "How do you know my name?"

"_He doesn't recognize me? What happened to him?"_ I thought as I carefully chose what words to say, "I know you because we're brothers. And you know me."

"No, I don't know you. You're my mission, that's it…nothing more."

"You know me." I took another step closer.

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><p><strong>Zerath POV<strong>

"_**Who does this guy think he is?"**_

"_He's my little brother that's who. You have to let me talk to him." _I argued against my second self.

"_**No, we have a mission. I must complete it and kill the target."**_

"_No! Not here, please…just let me talk to him. Give me control."_ I fought, hoping to give Xera some more time.

"_**So be it, but you won't have this control for long."**_

He relinquished his control and allowed me access to my own body again.

* * *

><p><strong>Xera's POV<strong>

Zerath's eyes went from blood red to sky blue, the atmosphere changing and calming down.

"Xera, listen I don't have much time."

"What do you mean." I asked.

"During that night, the night our mother died and we were captured, they…they did something to me. Now…I have this second personality in me with full control over my body. I was able to convince him to step down so I can talk to you." He explained.

I was relieved to know that my brother was still in there, but whatever is controlling him…whatever they did to him, I'll find a way to fix it. "I'm sorry, I should have come back for you…but I was too weak."

"No, don't be sorry. I sacrificed myself so you could escape, and you did. Now look at you…" He gestured toward me before continuing.

"The Angels of Death want you, they control whatever this thing is inside me. They want you dead or alive, but they have no way of tracking you. That's why they sent me." Zerath stated.

I suddenly recognized the emblems on his shoulder guards, they were the symbol for the AOD. Imprinted onto them was a black pair of angel wings with a blood red sword as the body, all inside a white circle.

"So, they don't know how to find me. But…how could you find me then?" I questioned.

"It's my semblance. I'm a Sensor, so I can sense and locate a unique aura signature. I can also sense aura signatures around me-." He interrupted himself as he scanned the tree line.

"_Crap, he can sense Blake's aura. And I'm guessing his other self isn't too happy."_ I thought as I waited anxiously for Zerath to make a move.

He turned back toward me, eyes returning to their blood red color and the atmosphere becoming tense again.

"What did I say about coming alone?!"

He pulled out his weapon, a giant black claymore, 6 feet long and 1 foot wide. It had a barrel going along the center of the black blade and there was some sort of trigger mechanism at the handle. Zerath then shifted his grip and the entire blade transformed into a high caliber sniper rifle, he pointed it out into the trees behind me.

"Come out, I know you're there!" He called out.

Blake emerged from the trees he pointed his sniper at, hands in the air to signal that she wasn't going to attack.

"Xera, you shouldn't have broken the rules. Unfortunately, because of that…someone might just get hurt." He lined his scope up with Blake, causing her to freeze in place.

Time seemed to slow down as his finger went tense against the trigger, threatening to fire a bullet straight into Blake. He pulled the trigger mechanism back a little and the gun primed, ready to release a shot at any second.

"NO!"

I sprinted in front of Blake just as he pulled the trigger, time itself seemed to stop as I watched the bullet close in. Immediately I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder and I collapsed to the ground in pain.

* * *

><p><strong>Zerath POV<strong>

"_NOOOO! Stop this, you don't need to hurt them!"_ I yelled, trying to regain control.

"_**You know I don't like it when my targets disobey, now that he's out of the way…"**_I felt my body line up another shot at the girl in black, my finger set on the trigger.

"_I…WON'T…LET YOU!"_ I fought for control, pushing against his power as he tried to pull the trigger.

* * *

><p><strong>3<strong>**rd**** Person**

Zerath dropped to the ground and clutched at his head, "Ahhhhhh! Stop this, I WILL NOT LOSE CONTROL!" He yelled in pain, dropping his weapon to the ground.

Blake ran over to Xera's side, his shoulder in immense pain as he pushed himself to his feet. "Xera, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have frozen up."

"Blake, listen, it's not your fault. Just…get out of here while you still can." He said as they made their way for the tree line.

"No, I won't leave you. Not while you're hurt." She argued.

"You don't have a choice, if you stay…you probably won't come back. Go, be safe, and don't worry about me." Xera stated as they entered the tree line.

Zerath appeared to have solved his inner battle and it looked like the evil side won, his eyes were still blood red as he started running in our direction, gun in hand.

"Go, now. Get out of here!" Xera yelled.

"Fine, just…be careful." Blake reluctantly separated from Xera and ran off to the left as Xera ran off to the right.

As Xera ran through the trees, he had to dodge wave after wave of bullets coming from Zerath, apparently he didn't mind bringing back Xera's dead body.

Trees exploded in magnificent clouds of wood fragments as Xera weaved between them, trying to gain distance from his pursuer. Unfortunately one of the bullets connected with the back of Xera's thigh, sending him down to the ground and tumbling into a tree.

Xera's vision started to blur and fade as Zerath approached him, gun at the ready. He placed the barrel of his sniper against Xera's forehead just as the teen passed out from blood loss, he smirked as he set his finger on the trigger and prepared to end this.

"NO!"

A black ribbon flew through the air with a bladed pistol attached to the end, it wrapped around his arm and dug its blade into his shoulder, effectively causing him to miss his shot and hit the ground instead.

"You…" He growled, ignoring the pain from the gun embedded above his arm.

Blake yanked her ribbon, causing the blade to tear through his shoulder and return to her. She immediately grabbed it and transformed Gambol Shroud back into blade form before charging Zerath.

He switched his weapon back into claymore form and charged at Blake, sending them both into a sword grind. Zerath proved to be the stronger one and he pushed Blake back, causing her to lose her footing.

He saw this and swung his claymore, grazing her arm as he did so. Blake grabbed at the cut as she shadow stepped away, searing pain shot through her arm. Zerath's blade gave off an orange glow as he readied himself for another attack.

He swung his sword effortlessly at Blake, who was trying her best to parry and evade the strong swings from the claymore. Luckily, his swings were slightly slower than hers and she found an opening. Taking it, she sent a barrage of quick slashes into Zerath's side.

Zerath spun and blocked what he could from Blake's attack, he then stepped forward and lunged his sword at Blake, who parried and gave another slash into his arm.

"You pretty good with a blade, too bad you won't be able to use one again after today." Zerath spoke bitterly, spinning around like a cyclone.

Blake was bombarded with a flurry of powerful strikes from every direction, Zerath's blade occasionally making contact with her skin and burning it. Blake realized a little too late that his claymore was embedded with fire dust, making every attack that much more painful.

Her defense was broken and Zerath made one final swing, sending a deep gash into Blake's leg. She collapsed to the ground and clutched her leg in pain, dropping her weapon in the process. Zerath stopped his spin and held his blade out, ready to make one final strike and finish her off for good.

As he rose his blade into the air, the sky above darkened and a piercing roar echoed through the air. The next thing Blake saw was a giant fire ball colliding into Zerath's back, sending him hurtling across the forest and through numerous trees.

"Vulderak…" Blake muttered as she stared into the sky, the dragon in mention floating just above the trees.

"**Get on now, I will take you both to safety where you will find help. Quickly, we don't have much time."** Vulderak's voice boomed through the air as he plummeted onto the ground, crushing a few trees in the process as he landed.

Blake bandaged her leg with the ribbon from Gambol Shroud and lifted Xera's unconscious body up. She climbed onto Vulderak's back with Xera and they took off into the sky, flying at speeds beyond the capability of anything else in the world.

"Whoa, is this how you see the world?" Blake asked, amazed at her surroundings.

"**Indeed, flying is an ability that most people wish they had."**

Blake continued to put pressure onto Xera's wounds as they flew, heading in the direction of Beacon.

"**Has he told you yet?"** Vulderak questioned as they approached the academy.

"Told me what?"

Vulderak pondered this for a bit before giving his response, **"He will tell you **_**what **_**he is when he's ready."**

With that, Vulderak silently landed in the school quart yard, allowing Blake to hop off with Xera in her arms.

"I already know that he's probably a faunus, but I don't know what kind." She said as Vulderak prepared to fly off.

"**Something tells me that you'll know soon enough."** Vulderak stated as he gave one final glance at Blake, **"Make sure he's safe."**

The dragon took to the skies as Blake made her way to the medical wing of the school, immediately getting the attention of a few nurses. The last thing she remembered was handing Xera off to them…and then collapsing onto the floor in exhaustion from her own wounds.

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><p><strong>And...there we go! Hope you enjoyed this one, I finally decided to continue off where Chapter 1 left you. So, there were a few 'Lord of the Rings' references in there, just to have them in. Keep in mind that I have never written romance before so this will be my first time, that being said I'm taking that whole love thing slow and simple. Anyway, favorite...follow...review, have a good one guys! Cya!<strong>


	21. You Got Shot!

oooOOO -**Announcements****!** - OOOooo

**Alright guys, so 3 awesome things happened.**

**1. As of November 3, 2014, at 6:50 PM we broke 1000 views! That is just unbelievable, we can't thank you guys enough for just checking out this story and even sticking around to read more, it really is just amazing. We're just going to keep going, so if you like what you've been reading, please by all means stick around and enjoy.**

**2. As you might notice in this chapter, there are a few new faces. Both of which are OC's but one was sent in by 'The Baz'. They made a request that I was definitely not expecting, I am truly honored to oblige and I will try my best to write their OC into the story. So, you guys will be introduced to this new OC in this chapter. This also leads to something I want to announce.**

**_"To anyone who wants to take part in this story as well, please don't hesitate to PM me about OC ideas. However, I'm requesting some for an upcoming tournament in Vale, just a few cameos as tournament competitors. They don't need to be too in depth, but all the details you need to send will be (Weapon, Weapon Name, Fighting Style, OC Appearance, and Aura/Semblance)."_**

**3. Lastly, another author reviewed our story, and hey...I thought that was just awesome. They will be revealed and referenced by the end of this chapter as a small way of saying 'Thank You'.**

**That's all the announcements I have, as I said above, there will be a reference to another Fanfic in this chapter. It's just something I like doing in this story so you can expect more references later on. So, without further ado...chapter 21!**

* * *

><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 21: You Got Shot?!<p>

**Skyla's POV**

I left the room after finishing our game of Risk. I headed towards the cafeteria for some ice cream to celebrate my victory. I walked around the place and scanned over the ice cream options. I crinkled my nose. "They don't have my favorite flavor!" I pouted as I headed for the door, bumping into someone in the meantime, knocking them down.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" I shouted, reaching down to help him up. His baggy pants became ruffled as he stood, giving off a high pitched laugh. "It's alright."

I smiled. "I'm Skyla." I held out my hand but he barely looked at it.

"Um..." I said awkwardly pulling it back to my side. "Isn't it a little hard to see from under that hat?" I asked referring to his beanie pulled over his eyes. I looked at his arms hanging by his side and realized that in place of one of his arms was a fake one, most likely fixed to help him in combat.

"I'm blind actually." He said stuffing his hands into his jean pockets. My eyes widened in shock.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean…" I trailed off.

"No, it's alright!" he laughed. "I'm Rideat Dente."

"Skyla Xerious. So what team are you on?" I asked.

"Team SNAR (Sonar)."

"Who's on your team?"

"Sun Wukong, Neptune Vasilias, and Anna Clyde."

"Anna from the coffee shop?"

"I think...?" He asked, uncertain about it.

"And as for Neptune, you mean that really cute guy with the blue hair?"

"Not sure. I'm blind." He shrugged.

"And Sun as in, the monkey?" I asked,

"So that's what that was, it was a tail!"

I looked at him quizzically, "Wait, how did you see a tail?"

He shrugged again and stated, "I may be blind, but my semblance allows me to see the silhouettes of people's aura, usually just colors."

"Oooooo, what color am I?"

"Purple." He said simply.

"Cooool. Hey, I'm sorry for asking all these stupid questions."

Rideat shook his head as if saying, 'It's Alright.'

"I get that a lot." he said, his voice never leaving its happy tone. His laugh was high pitched and he seemed to laugh a lot, which kind of reminded me of…

"You sound like the hyena from The Lion King!" I accidently blurted out. He stared at me, not sure of what emotion it was since his eyes were covered with a beanie cap. "How did you know?" he suddenly asked, catching me off guard.

"What do you mean?"

"How did you know I was a faunus?" He asked, leaning closer as if inspecting me.

"Wait…you're a faunus?"

He nodded briefly removing his hands from his pockets. If you listened closely you could hear a faint noise of metal scraping together, like that of the Terminator in those movies.

"A hyena faunus," I said, finally understanding multiple things.

"Hey Skyla!" Someone called out from behind me. "I see you met my good buddy, Rideat." Sun said, suddenly coming out and swinging an arm around Rideat.

I nodded, smiling again. "I did. And I learned that you, Neptune, and Anna are all on a team now."

"Indeed, we are. Isn't it awesome!?" He said, fist pumping the air.

Behind us more voices came.

"I want to rematch you some day." Ruby said walking along side Allix. I looked at them side by side and realized both of their main colors were red and black. I smiled at them, they were almost twins, besides the hair.

"Someday." Allix said.

Ruby stopped in front of us and looked around. "Have you seen Blake? She wasn't in her bed this morning."

I shook my head. "Nope. But funny thing is, neither was Xera."

Sun tilted his head to the side and stared at us. "So both Xera and Blake are missing? Those two lovebirds must have run off again!"

"Ewww…."

"I just think they went to the café for an early morning breakfast. Xera usually goes there." Allix said knocking Sun's theory off the table.

Suddenly, the sound of running footsteps came echoing through the empty halls. Allix, Ruby, Rideat, and Sun all looked at the place where the noises emitted from. Suddenly, a person appeared with a panicked look on their face.

"Someone was shot! Someone was shot!" they shouted repeatedly. Sun grabbed the guy and stopped him in his tracks.

"Who got shot?" He asked holding the teen still.

"Two teens! One wearing green and another wearing black with hints of purple!"

I glanced at Allix. "Do you think...?"

She shook her head. "Can't be…"

The teen shook off Sun's hands and faced Allix and I. "The students Xera Stark and Blake Belladonna are in the medical bay right now!"

* * *

><p><strong>3rd Person<strong>

Blake slowly opened her eyes and immediately noticed all the white light panels that littered the ceiling above her. A faint beeping sounded out through the air from her left, as she felt around with her hands, she realized she was in a hospital bed.

"Good, you're awake."

Blake turned her head and noticed a nurse standing at the left side of her bed, typing on a medical scroll that had a red plus symbol on the back of it.

"You were unconscious for a few hours, but nothing major. The wound in your leg is mostly healed thanks to the healers and your aura, so you should be able to walk." The nurse continued.

"What about Xera?" Blake asked.

The nurse looked up for a second before going back to her scroll, "He's still unconscious due to the amount of blood he's lost. However, for some reason he seems to be healing quite fast. I've never seen anyone self-heal like him before."

The nurse walked out of the doors to the hospital room, this gave Blake some time to actually look around and take in her surroundings.

Along the opposite wall were multiple beds all spaced out from each other with movable curtains, each bed had a tall metal stand next to it, most likely for IV Bags and aura stimulants. Continuing her gaze she noticed a couple of windows at the far wall to her right, the sun was just setting on the horizon.

She turned her head to see what was on her side of the room and noticed one of the beds had its curtains closed around it.

Taking in the information that the nurse told her, she should be healed enough to walk on her injured leg. Blake took a deep breath and slowly lowered herself to the floor, gradually putting more and more weight on her leg.

Surprisingly, no pain occurred and her leg actually felt like it hadn't been injured at all.

"Huh, I guess those healers really did a good job." She said to herself as she took a few steps further, testing to make sure she can walk.

When she was satisfied that she was definitely healed, she approached the closed curtains. Blake peaked through around the edge of the fabric and noticed who was lying in the hospital bed.

"Oh, hey. You're awake?" She asked, pushing aside the curtain a little.

Xera was currently reading from a book, the author's name was hidden by his hand but the title was in clear view, '_Vale's Valentine'_.

"Yup." He said simply.

Blake pushed the rest of the curtains open, "What are you reading?"

Xera looked up for a second, "It's a Romance series. The author is extremely good at writing and these books definitely show it."

"Never knew you liked romance." She stated, now finished with opening the curtain.

"Yeah, I'm a huge sucker for those kinds of series." He shrugged, now looking at Blake curiously.

"I'm a pretty big fan of romance as well." Blake said, turning her gaze back to the injured teen.

"I overheard the nurse speaking. What happened to your leg?" He asked, closing the book and giving Blake his attention.

"Oh, it's nothing, it was just a slash. But it's all healed now so you don't have to worry about it."

Xera glanced at her leg and took note that she wasn't avoiding putting any weight on it. He also took a look outside and saw what time it was.

"So, uhh…this might sound a little stupid. But how did I get here?" He asked, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

"Right, about that…I think you would have to thank Vulderak for saving us." She responded.

Xera looked back and met Blake's gaze, just checking to see if she was believing her own words. "How did he know we were in trouble?"

Blake shrugged and adverted her gaze down to stare at her feet, fiddling with her thumbs a little. "You know, I never really got a chance to thank you." She stated.

Xera looked at her and tilted his head a little, "For what?"

"Well, for saving my life. I'm pretty sure if you hadn't have stepped in the way, that bullet would have pierced my heart." Blake said, looking up again at Xera.

"Don't worry about it, I guess I can get a little protective over my friends and the people I care about. It's just in my nature." He answered.

Blake continued to fiddle with her thumbs a little, wondering if she should say what she wanted to say next. Making her decision she spoke up again, "I still want to make it up to you. Do you…maybe…want to-"

Blake was cut off by the doors flying open, along with a purple blur flying through the room and skidding to a halt in front of Xera's hospital bed.

"You…you're…okay. I thought you got shot." The blur said quizzically.

Xera was still looking at Blake, waiting for her to continue but eventually turned to the new person in front of him. "It's alright Skyla, the bullet holes should be healed by now."

"BULLET HOLES?!"

Another voice pierced the silent atmosphere of the room as two more people walked in, the two remaining members of team XSRA.

"Oh come on, Rex, it really wasn't that bad." Xera stated, reassuring everyone that he was fine.

"How many times were you shot?" Allix asked worriedly, walking along side Rex as they approached the other three in the room.

Xera sighed, contemplating whether or not to tell them. That was until he was blinded by a bright light that was pointed directly into his face.

"Don't make me interrogate you. Because you know I _always_ and I mean _always_ get the information." Skyla warned, pushing her portable lamp closer to Xera's face.

"Fine…" He sighed and muttered "I got shot twice."

Skyla put away her lamp as fast as it had appeared, nobody really knows where she puts it. "At least you're okay. I was so worried about you, you know…because you're my partner."

"And we were worried about our teammate." Allix spoke up.

"Yeah man, you scared us pretty bad when we heard about what happened." Rex added.

"BLAKE!?"

Another voice rang out through the air as a yellow flash rushed straight for Blake, pulling the poor girl into a monstrous bear hug. "Oh My Gosh, you're okay."

"Yang, I'm fine. Now please let me go, you're crushing my ribs." Blake squeaked out, trying her hardest to swallow oxygen.

"Oh, sorry." Yang let her go and stepped back a little.

"Blake, we heard you were in the medical bay. What happened?" Ruby asked, approaching the others alongside Weiss.

"Yeah, Ozpin told us you were injured during a mission." Weiss added.

Blake looked and her team and gave them a warm smile, "I'm fine guys. I just got into a sword fight and the guy happened to land a hit on my leg. But it's completely healed now."

She turned her gaze back to Xera, who was still looking at her and waiting for her to continue. "I'll tell you later." Blake said.

"Alright."

The rest of team RWBY just noticed who else was in the hospital room and who else was hurt during Blake's mission.

"So, what happened to you?" Ruby spoke up, stepping forward in Xera's direction.

"Oh, he got shot." Skyla stated firmly.

"WHAT?!"

"Twice." Rex added, holding up two fingers.

**"WHAT?!"**

Xera just rolled his eyes and gazed out the window, watching as the sun slowly dipped out of view, finally signaling that night has descended upon Vale.

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><p><strong>So, I'm still learning on this Romance stuff but at least I'm improving. Anyway, so Xera got hooked into this amazing book seriesaka Fanfic written by 'xxnachomaniacxx', he is an amazing writer and an even more amazing romance creator. So please, go look him up and read '_Vale's Valentine'_, it's definitely one of my favorites. I hope you guys enjoyed and will continue to enjoy these chapters, as always...favorite...follow...review...have a good one guys! Cya!**


	22. I Can't Believe You Got Shot!

**To start this off, I'd like to give 'xxnachomaniacxx' a shout out for putting Xera and Skyla cameos into his story, which is amazing by the way. That was honestly one of the most amazing things that happened so far in my fanfiction life, other that all the support. I can't thank you enough for reading this far and staying with us. Also, that tournament coming up will need some people to get beat up in. So, if any of you have some sort of simple OC you want to send in, feel free to PM me about it. If not, then I guess Sky and I will just have to think of the most annoying people ever to get pummeled by some of the main characters ;p. Anyway, enjoy chapter 22!**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 22: I Can't Believe You Got Shot!<p>

**Skyla's POV**

I paced around the blank, white room shaking my hands along the way. To my side, Xera sat in a white, thin bed with hospital machines beeping around him.

"How could you?! Why would you go out at night!? And get shot! _Twice!_" I shouted facing him for a second before continuing my pace.

"I didn't plan to get shot." He simply said.

I glared at him. "And Blake was stabbed in the leg!" I added loudly pointing at Blake sitting in a plastic chair in the room. She glanced at me at the mention of her name. She had been dismissed since her leg was only stabbed and not shot like Xera. Twice….

"SHE WAS STABBED AND YOU WERE SHOT!" I shouted angry at Xera for doing something so reckless. It was as if my goofy and silly side was replaced by an over-dramatic mother of ten teenagers.

"It wasn't lethal-"

"You're in the hospital!" I continued my pace, Blake's amber eyes followed my movements almost observing me.

"Not for long. It's just for today."

"But you're still in the hospital."

"For a day."

"DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT YOU WERE SHOT TWICE AND SHE WAS STABBED TWICE!"

"Actually it was only once." Blake added. I sighed and looked around the empty room. The other groups were here but they left to get some food in the cafeteria .

"I HAVE TO PEE LIKE CRAZY BAD! ANNND I WAANNNTTT ICE CREAM!" I shouted walking briskly out the room and towards the machine.

"Why you no have ice cream?!" I shouted at the machine kicking it in the mean time.

"Uhh…Skyla?" Blake said behind me.

"What?"

"That's a soda machine…"

I looked at it myself and saw that it was indeed a soda machine. "I knew that."

"Hey guys!" Someone called out from behind me.

I turned around and noticed four more teens approaching, "Oh, hey Sun…and team." I waved half-heartedly, still disappointed that soda machines can't dispense ice cream.

Team SNAR (Sonar) walked up to us. The hyena faunus I met earlier walked alongside Sun, and behind them was Neptune and Anna.

"Oooooo…I knew you were the Anna from the coffee shop." I exclaimed.

"Yup! The one and only…how's Xera?" Anna asked.

"He's in room 327, if you want to find out for yourself." Blake spoke up, pointing down the hall.

"Sure, I heard about what happened. I haven't met the guy myself, but Sun seems to think he's a friend." Neptune said.

"I don't suppose your friend is the one with the neon orange aura?" Rideat questioned, gazing in the direction of Xera's room.

I looked down the hall, but had no idea what he was talking about, until it clicked, "Oh, you mean his affinity toward fire!"

"I guess that could be why it's orange." He said, turning his gaze back to the group.

"Wait, you can see people's aura?" Blake asked, confused at the new person in front of her.

"Yeah, I can see people's aura signature and what color it is. It's actually pretty convenient considering I'm blind." Rideat responded.

"Oh, now I see why you wear your beanie over your eyes. Sorry, I didn't know you were blind." Blake apologized, looking a little sheepish.

"It's fine, this ability is actually more useful than you might think." He shrugged, brushing off her apology.

I took this moment to lead the charge and started walking toward room 327. But as we approached, we could hear the subtle notes of a guitar being played from the inside.

We walked up to the door and I grasped the handle, turning it and pushing the door open. Team SNAR, Blake, and I walked in to find Xera playing some sort of instrumental, this time with no lyrics.

"Hey guys." Xera said looking up from his guitar, absently playing the notes in sequence.

"Sup, I heard you got shot." Sun stated.

"Twice." I filled in, holding up two fingers.

"Skyla, you need to let this go. It wasn't that bad, and how is everyone finding out about this?" Xera questioned, still sub-consciously playing his black guitar.

Sun shrugged and explained, "Some idiot was running around yelling "Someone got shot!" and everyone who stopped him got the details. You should have seen the look on his face when I nearly clothes-lined him."

"Yeah, and then Sun told us, after Skyla and her friends took off toward the medical bay." Anna added.

"Oh, hey Anna. I didn't know you go to Beacon." Xera said.

"Well, I just moved here and there turned out to be a spot open on Sun's team, considering he just enrolled as well." She responded.

Blake started walking toward the door, "Hey, I'll see you guys later. I'm going to go pick something up at the book store."

"Alright, glad to see you're up and moving after that injury." Xera stated, nodding goodbye as he continued playing.

"See ya later, Blake." I added, giving her a friendly wave.

"I'm going to take off too, glad to see you're all healed up Xera." Sun said, waving goodbye and walking towards the door.

"Anyone who can take two bullets is definitely a strong huntsman. I guess I'll see you around as well." Neptune stated, walking off with Sun.

"See you guys around, and thanks for visiting." Xera said as they walked out the door.

I looked at Rideat and noticed his gaze was directed at Xera's guitar. He was extraordinarily focused on something but I couldn't tell what he took so much interest in.

"Hey, what are you staring at?" I asked.

Rideat snapped out of it and turned toward me, but his eyes were still hidden so I couldn't tell what emotion he was expressing.

"I…I can see the music." He muttered.

"What?"

"I can actually see the guitar and the notes flicker through the air. The way he plays, it's almost like his aura is being sent through the guitar and into the strings, and then released into the room through strands of light." He continued, turning his gaze back to Xera as he played.

"I did notice that when he played guitar the first time around. There were these orange tendrils of light that dispersed out of the glowing strings as he played the notes. It was actually really cool." I mentioned, almost understanding what Rideat was talking about.

Xera looked up from his guitar again, I'm pretty sure he heard what we were talking about.

"Did you guys know that a huntsman's weapon is actually an extension of themselves?" He asked, still playing the guitar.

"Yeah, that's how I learned how to master my own weapon." Anna responded.

"Me too. My blades and I really connect when we fight in battle." I said.

Rideat, just kind of looked at his arm, a smirk growing on his face at what Xera said.

"Oh yeah, definitely an extension of myself." He added.

Anna and I giggled a little and Xera gave a small chuckle, "Well, most people don't know this, but that goes for your aura as well. If you can manifest your aura into something close to you, you can then form a temporary bond with it and even control it if you have enough energy." Xera explained.

"So that's why you're able to play the guitar so well." Anna stated.

"That also explains why I can see the figure of the guitar. What I'm seeing is your aura being pulsed inside the object." Rideat added.

"Yup." Xera said simply.

The door opened and a nurse walked in, glancing at all the visitors before approaching Xera.

"You are free to walk around and leave if you want to. Your injuries have been healed enough to resume physical activity and even enter combat. It's truly remarkable how you were able to heal so fast." She explained.

"Cool, and I'm not sure how I was able to heal so fast either. Was it the aura stimulant?" Xera asked, lowing himself to the floor and putting the guitar into its case.

"We never injected any aura stimulant." The nurse explained.

"What?" Xera looked genuinely confused.

"Whatever healed you, it was completely natural. Have a good day, Mr. Stark." She stated before walking off and out the door, probably to work with more patients.

Xera walked toward the door as well, "I'm going to go walk around a bit, you know, stretch my legs and stuff. I'll see you guys later and thank you for coming to visit."

"Alright, see you later." I waved goodbye as he walked out.

He walked off down the halls and waved goodbye.

"Well, I'm tired. Maybe I'll see you two tomorrow or something." I yawned and waved goodbye to Rideat and Anna.

"Sweet dreams!" Anna called out after me, beaming a happy smile as she waved.

"Night." Rideat said simply.

I walked down the medical wing of Beacon and towards the exit, trying to find my dorm room and get some much needed sleep.

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><p><strong>Xera POV<strong>

I walked through the halls of Beacon, wondering my way around until I found the door I was looking for. Opening the door and stepping through, I walked up a spiral staircase that leads me to the usual roof top I like.

The sun had long gone and the night sky was a sea of stars, bright lights in every direction. The shattered moon stood high in the sky, glowing brighter than the rest, but no more beautiful than the stars around it.

"What happened that night? What happened to my brother? And why is there some sort of demonic, sadistic murderer inside his head?" I questioned myself, gazing into the sky as if looking for answers.

"Do you really want to know that badly?"

I turned around and noticed Ozpin standing by the door, coffee mug in one hand and his cane in the other.

"Wait, you know what happened to Zerath?" I questioned.

Ozpin stepped forward and stood beside me, gazing out across Vale and its night sky.

"I only know so much, Mr. Stark, however…what I know may help you or it may hinder you. That is entirely up to you." He answered, taking a sip from his mug.

There was a moment of silence between us, a short time of understanding that whatever this information was, it might hurt more than comfort.

"Tell me." I said simply, preparing for whatever might be said.

Ozpin took another sip from his mug and continued, "His name was Soul-Slasher. A dark entity that took human form and was later killed. However, the AOD corporation conducted a…little experiment a few years ago. About the same time your brother broke you out of captivity."

I glanced at him, signaling him to continue.

"Soul-Slasher was a dark entity, which means he isn't so easily killable. His essence lingered and was captured by scientists inside the AOD. The experiment was to test if that very essence could be combined with a human being." Ozpin looked down at me and gestured with his mug, letting me connect the dots.

"They merged Soul-Slasher with my brother. What kind of sick people are they?!"

"Ones who are willing to make sacrifices in order to gain an upper hand." He stated.

With that, Ozpin stepped back and started walking towards the door.

"Thank you." I said, causing him to halt in place for a second and turn his head.

"You needed to know." Ozpin responded, resuming his exit and leaving the rooftop.

I sighed and turned toward the city again. _"Now that I know what's happening, maybe I can fix it."_

My head turned back to the door as it creaked open again, a black bow poked out which was followed by a pair of amber eyes.

"Hey, Blake."

Blake stepped out onto the rooftop, "Hey, I kind of figured you'd be up here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Skyla told me about your little nightly walks."

I face palmed slightly, annoyed at my partner's dreadful capability at keeping a secret.

"One time, it was one time. She wasn't even supposed to be awake at the time."

"What's so bad about taking a walk every now and then?" Blake questioned.

I sighed again, realizing that there was no reason to argue. "Nothing, but she should really stop eating so much ice cream before bed."

Blake stepped up to my right side, admiring the sight that lay before her and the way Vale lit up at night.

"Why were you looking for me anyway?" I asked, breaking the silence.

She pulled out a book and handed it to me, "Here, I found this book in Tukson's Book Trade and thought you might enjoy it."

I grabbed the book and read the title, _'Behind Those Hazel Eyes'_.

"It's a romance novel." She said simply.

"Thanks, I'll be sure to read it after I finish the latest book to _'Vale's Valentine'_." I stated, thanking her for the book and placing it in my sweatshirt pocket.

"So, anything else? Maybe something you want to ask?" I hinted, noticing a small blush creep onto her face.

"Right…uh, first I am a little curious about something." She said, waving off the question and gaining control of her blush.

"Alright, ask away."

"You're eyes…do they change color to match your emotions?"

To be completely honest, I didn't see that coming.

"How'd you find out?" I asked curiously.

"It's kind of hard not to notice, even when your bangs cover your eyes a little." Blake responded.

I shifted my stance a little, "I don't have control over it. And it gets annoying considering everyone can tell how I feel at all times, so to answer your question, yes. My eyes match my emotions."

Blake adverted her gaze from me and looked off into the distance, "So, since pink is the universal color for love…" She trailed off.

"What are you getting at?" I asked, wondering where she was going with this.

"When we first met, your eyes were sky blue, which usually stands for sympathy. But, after we started to hang out, they started to transition to pink a lot, like that night after the October Fest dance in the ballroom, when we sat up here on the roof." She said, one hand was holding her other arm and her gaze was now back on me.

I nodded in understanding but also trying to hide a blush that snuck up on me while she was talking, "Well, I guess you know exactly how I feel about you."

"Yeah, I guess I just wanted to confirm it."

"How about we talk more over lunch tomorrow at Café Royal?" I asked.

She thought about it for a second and gave me her signature smirk, "I'd love to."

"Was that similar to what you were going to ask me earlier?" I questioned.

"Pretty much." Blake nodded he head.

She gave me a quick hug, which admittedly caught me off guard. After I gained control over another blush, she let go and started walking towards the door.

"Pick me up at noon." Blake called over her shoulder before exiting through the door.

After she left I turned toward the ledge and stepped up onto the railing. Feeling the wind pick up and push upward at the building's edge, I closed my eyes and leaned forward.

The wind got increasingly stronger as I tipped forward and over the roof's railing. Shrugging off my sweatshirt I unfurled my hidden wings and took to the night skies. Twirling and flying in large loops in the sea of stars, just enjoying the freedom. Luckily there's no light up here, so there won't be any unwanted spectators.

"_Sometimes, you just have to let loose and relax every once in a while. Besides, it feels good to stretch my wings every now and then. After all, they've been hidden all year."_

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><p><strong>And...there it is. I'm just going to mess around with romance a little as the plot progresses. At this point, I'm just having fun with it. You can thank Sky for the whole freak out dialogue at the start of the chapter, it was pretty amusing to read. Anyway, go check out <span>'xxnachomaniacxx'<span> and his story _'Vale's Valentine'_. I will also be referencing _'Behind Those Hazel Eyes'_ by 'TheAnimeFicWriter'. The fanfic was hinted at in this chapter but more will come. They're both fun fanfics with lots of love and amazing plots ;p. As always, follow...favorite...review...have a good one guys. Cya! :)**


	23. First Date

oooOOO -_**WARNING!**_ - OOOooo

**Fluff warning! Lots of fluff! If you aren't comfortable, I would suggest finding your favorite stuffed animal and cuddling with it as well as snuggling into the most comfy chair you have while reading this chapter. 'Nough said, enjoy :).**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 23: First Date<p>

**3rd Person**

Friday started like any other day, a couple classes and then the weekend would start. Although today, the students of Beacon only had one class for the day. When that ended they were free to start whatever plans they had in mind for the few days off that they would have.

Most people were anxious, eager to relax and take a break from learning and training. But today was something different, something special. Xera Stark sat behind his desk, palms sweating and attention elsewhere.

At noon today, he planned to take Blake out into Vale on a date. But this was the first date, so it had to be something special, something memorable.

Professor Port was going on about another one of his tales of heroism. Probably a little exaggerated but Xera knew they were all true, after all…he was there for a few of the professor's adventures, although that's a story for another time.

"After the King Tijitsu was slain, I triumphantly marched back into town with my head held high and my ax over my shoulder." Professor Port bellowed in his usual voice.

The bell sounded out after the professor spoke those last few words of his story, which he somehow always times perfectly.

"Class Dismissed. No homework for today." He announced, getting a few cheers and loud sighs from the class.

Xera walked back to the dorm, making it into his room about an hour before the clock strikes noon.

"So, got anything special planned?" Rex asked.

Xera closed the door and looked around the room, noticing that Rex wasn't alone. Jaune and Ren were also in the room, both sat on different beds.

The girls were in team RWBY's dorm room, probably prepping Blake for her first date.

"I still don't know why Yang had to announce this to everyone, and I still don't even know how she found out." Xera sighed, walking over to his bed and falling back onto its soft sheets.

Rex shrugged, "Beats me, but her reputation as 'Gossip Queen' definitely continues to both amaze and annoy me."

"At least you had the courage to ask someone out. I'm still hesitant about asking Pyrrha." Jaune said sheepishly.

"I know she'll say yes. You just need to ask her." Xera said reassuringly.

Jaune looked a little unsure of himself, "But how do you know for sure?"

"Dude, come on even I can see that she has feelings for you." Rex stated.

"I'm with them on this one. Even I can sense how she acts differently when around you." Ren added.

"I still have an hour, so I might as well take a shower while I wait." Xera said, but he remained lying on his bed.

"Didn't you just say-"

Xera interrupted him by raising his arm up, "I said I have an hour. My shower won't take that long so I'm just going to lie here for a bit."

Rex shrugged and continued with what he was doing before Xera walked in, that being making a modification to his ax.

"Did you two get kicked out?" Xera asked, pointing in the general direction of Ren and Jaune.

"Yup." Jaune responded simply, Ren gave a slight nod as his own response.

Xera looked up for a second before letting his head fall back down onto his sheets, "I wonder what they're doing in there."

Team RWBY, Allix, Skyla, Pyrrha and Nora all sat around inside team RWBY's dorm room.

"OMG!" Skyla's squeal broke through the air as she circled Blake. Yang and Ruby were busy looking for something suitable for Blake to wear while Skyla and Nora were busy fan-girling. Allix was standing by the wall, watching the expressions of the overly excited Nora and Skyla.

Weiss decided to make herself busy by prepping the makeup table for Blake so when Ruby and Yang were finished, she could begin working on Blake's face.

"I can't believe you're going out with Xera! Today!" Skyla squealed almost toppling over onto Blake's lap.

"I know right! I mean like Xera's pretty cute! If he weren't so shy, but you're both shy and I think you're perfect for each other!" Nora rambled grabbing a hairbrush.

"We really need to update your makeup selections! All you have are purples!" Weiss complained scanning a darker purple eye shadow.

"I like purple." Blake said from her bed.

Yang tossed a few dresses aside onto the floor as she looking for the perfect dress suitable for a date. Meanwhile, Ruby was in search for a pair of shoes.

"So where is he taking you?" Weiss asked.

"Not sure. He didn't tell me."

"I bet you it's something romantic! Like a picnic on the beach!" Yang exclaimed, her lilac eyes scanning a black dress.

"I cannot believe he took that long to ask you out!" Nora said pouting. "I thought he was going to do it sooner!"

Weiss suddenly spun on her white heeled boots and faces us. "Alright Blake it's time for your makeup."

Blake stood from her spot between Nora and Skyla and made her way towards Weiss.

"Since you only have purples, I must work with what I have. So let's get started."

"Do you think Xera is going to kiss you tonight?" Ruby asked from inside the closet.

"Yeah! That would be so cute!" One of the teens said.

"Oh please. No boy would kiss a girl on the first date!" Weiss said, her eyes focused on Blake's face as she applied some eye shadow.

"Oh my gosh! I found the perfect outfit!" Yang suddenly shouted pulling out a pair of black leggings and shorts paired with a white and black shirt.

"It's good for anything! Like a walk on the beach, a carnival, a restaurant! The possibilities are endless!"

Skyla sat up from the bed and stared at Blake sitting in front of Weiss.

"I can't believe you're going on a date this afternoon! It took him long enough to ask you!" Skyla said.

"I know but we didn't exactly have the time to go on a date. You know, with the shooting and the stabbing." Her hand brushed past the spot where she had the injury as if remembering the moment she received the scar.

"What time is he taking you out?" Nora asked, barely containing her excitement.

"Noon."

"NOON?!" They all exclaimed jumping back a bit.

"Yeah, why did you all freak out?"

"Uh, if you haven't noticed, it's eleven fifty-five!" Weiss said putting a hand on her hip.

"We need to hurry!" Yang said rushing over to Blake clothes in hand.

Pushing her up, the blondie shoved the clothes into her hands and pushed her into the bathroom to change. Shutting the door she sat down on the bed and waited until Blake finally came out.

The girls squealed at their work. Finally, Ruby walked over to Blake and handed her a pair of shoes to finish the outfit.

"Don't want to go out barefooted now do ya?"

Blake chuckled and accepted the shoes. She sat at the edge of the bed and put them on just as someone knocked on the door.

"Have fun!" Yang said giving the girl a big hug.

"Have a great date!"

"DONT LET HIM FEED YOU BEANS!" Skyla added giving Blake a hug as well.

"Go answer the door before he thinks you're not coming." Weiss said hoisting her up onto her feet.

Xera stood in the hall, waiting patiently as he heard a bunch of shuffling and commotion on the other side of the door.

Finally the door opened up revealing one of the most breath taking sights he's ever seen, even if it were just casual clothing. Just the subtlety of it all really made a difference…

"Y-you're beautiful." He finally spoke up, finding his voice.

Blake blushed at the compliment, "Thank you." She then gave one quick glance behind her and noticed all the anxious nods and thumbs up from the other teens in the room.

"You look great too." Blake complimented, stepping out into the hallway and shutting the door behind her.

Xera wore his usual green sweatshirt, something he's grown attached to aside from its hidden second function. He also wore sleek black sweatpants and black shoes with lime green highlights. What threw Blake off the most was his combed hair, it was brushed to the side revealing his eyes.

"Shall we begin?" Xera asked, extending his hand to Blake.

She noticed his eyes switched to purple, signifying that he was now feeling romantic. "We shall." Blake responded, slipping her arm around his and leaning into his side as they walked.

They continued to walk down the hallway and out the lounge doors heading for the stairs, "You never told me where we're going." Blake stated.

Xera only smirked at this, "Never crossed my mind."

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"Nope."

Blake nestled her head onto his shoulder as they stepped out into the brisk air, enjoying the warm atmosphere Xera always carried around with him.

"All you've told me for the plan was that we're eating lunch at Café Royal. But you hinted at there being more afterward." Blake said curiously, trying to get something out of Xera that would settle her curiosity.

"Anna was particularly excited about that. She insisted on doing a few things that you'll soon find out. And as for later, that will remain a secret." Xera stated, glancing into Blake's amber eyes.

They approached the Beacon airship and boarded the vessel, taking a seat in the back even though the ship was already mostly vacant. Aside from a few stray teens here and there, it was practically empty.

This made a certain suspicious duo that much more suspicious when they walked on shortly after Blake and Xera. The two wore hoodies to shadow their faces and grey sweatpants as general clothing. Honestly, it was kind of pathetic.

"Knew it." Xera whispered.

"Yeah, there was no way those two would be able to sit back and wait the day out." Blake responded.

The two figures stood at the other side of the airship, occasionally stealing glances at the two teens in each other's embrace.

"Do you think they know?" One of them spoke.

"Nah, they're probably too distracted with each other to notice." The other responded.

Blake couldn't help but stifle a giggle. Considering she was a cat-faunus, she easily picked up the short conversation the mysterious pair shared before turning away.

"So, who do you think is under those hoods?" Xera asked, noticing Blake trying to hide her amusement.

"It's the two anyone would expect. I heard them talking and it sounded like Yang and Skyla."

"Yeah, I could've guessed." Xera chuckled a little, "Should we humor them?" He asked.

Blake shrugged and responded, "Why not, no harm done anyway."

The airship touched base and opened its doors, allowing Blake and Xera to exit and start walking into Vale.

They walked for a bit, idly chatting and laughing, just enjoying each other's company as they walked.

After turning a corner, they walked up to their destination, Café Royal. The sign said closed but that didn't stop Xera from pushing the door open and holding it for Blake to walk in.

Blake slightly blushed and gave a small smile of gratitude, then walked into the café expecting to see the usual sight from her previous visit.

"Whoa."

If you didn't read the sign on the way in, there was no way you could tell that this was a coffee shop. The windows had their blinds pulled down and candles were spread out all across the room. The lights were off and all the tables were pushed off to the side, only leaving one table with a white table cloth in the center of the café. The candles gave the café a romantic atmosphere.

The lone table had a small intricate vase centered on it with a black rose nestled inside it. Two plates and silver wear were set up opposite each other and two comfortable chairs were placed in front of each set.

Xera walked in and let the door close behind him, "Yeah, Anna went all out. I told her that it was way too much but she insisted." He said, sheepishly holding the back of his neck.

"It's…beautiful. But the candles are a little much." She responded, getting used to the reoccurring blush on her face that never seemed to go away.

Xera shrugged an walked up to one of the chairs before pulling it out for Blake, which she gladly sat into as she let Xera push her in slightly, leaving the chair at a comfortable distance away.

"Hungry?" He asked.

"Famished."

Xera nodded and walked into the kitchen, soon emerging with two silver platters which were covered by equally silver domes to insulate and conceal the food within them.

He placed one in front of Blake and placed the other in front of his own chair.

"What would you like to drink? She has anything and everything here. I'm surprised she calls it a café." Xera asked, walking behind the counter.

"I guess a glass of cold milk would be fine, thank you."

Xera nodded and prepped both of their drinks before returning to their table, he placed Blake's drink next to her still covered meal and placed his own next to his meal before finally sitting down. He settled for grabbing himself a glass of ginger-ale, one of his favorite drinks.

"Go ahead, Anna let me swing by this morning to cook these. So I hope you like it." He gestured for her to reveal what was hidden underneath her silver dome.

Blake was already in disbelief about everything that's happened so far, it was honestly one of the most special things that she has ever done and she's enjoying every minute of it. And to top it off, Xera even cooked them lunch.

She gave Xera a heartwarming smile and lifted the dome off her meal, revealing a beautifully cooked smoked salmon.

Blake gasped at the sight of her absolute favorite food and gave a look of disbelief to Xera, "How did you know I loved smoked salmon?"

Xera gave a small chuckle as he looked across the table, definitely worth the reaction.

"I asked Yang, she told me you really liked ordering salmon whenever you guys ate out as a team." He answered.

Blake waited to see what Xera cooked for himself for his own meal. She watched as he lifted the dome off of his plate and revealed a stack of the most fluffy and mouthwatering French toast she has ever seen, topped with powdered sugar and a small bottle of syrup on the edge of the plate.

Blake only giggled at Xera's choice of food, "Really, French toast?"

Xera only shrugged, "You can never go wrong with French toast, besides, it's my favorite food."

Blake and Xera shared a laugh and ate their meals. Blake was constantly praising Xera for how good the salmon tasted as they conversed and chatted.

They soon finished their meals and Xera disappeared again with the dirty dishes, he came back out after placing them in the dish washer. Anna told him not to worry about cleaning them so the least he could do was complete half the job.

"That was incredible." Blake sighed, standing by the door as Xera walked to her side.

Xera chuckled, "For the millionth-time, thank you. But it was nothing really."

"It really was, and I will continue to say things like that if you keep this up. Which reminds me, what have you planned now?"

"You'll see."

Blake frowned at his response but accepted that he wanted to surprise her.

"What do we do about the candles?" She asked.

"I'll take care of it, go on ahead and wait outside."

Blake nodded and walked out the door.

Xera made sure she wasn't looking and after he was satisfied, he shrugged off his sweatshirt and unfurled his wings. He gave them one hard flap and created a quick gust of wind, effectively blowing out all the candles in the café, but not enough to push any of them over.

He quickly tucked his wings in and put back on his sweat shirt before stepping out to meet Blake.

"That was quick." Blake said, turning around and meeting Xera's gaze.

Xera shrugged and stepped next to her, "Wasn't really that hard."

Blake looked curious after that answer but Xera stopped any potential questions as he took her hand and started walking toward the boardwalk.

They continued their date, enjoying every moment that happened. Although it didn't seem like it, they were fully aware that they were being tailed by two hooded teens. Both of which were observing anxiously as to what the couple would do next.

Xera walked Blake through the tall gateway that leads onto the boardwalk where a carnival was currently taking place. There were rides everywhere, stands dotted at every possible direction, people bustling about and food stations dispersed throughout the entire place.

They stepped up to a game and watched as another teen in front of them played a carnival classic.

"Step right up, step right up! If you land one ring on any of these bottles you will win one of these giant plush Ursi! Three rings for 5 lien!" The game announcer bellowed.

After the teen in front of them threw his three rings and walked away rather disappointed, Xera paid the man behind the stand 5 lien and accepted the three rings he was given.

He handed two of them to Blake and kept the third one in his hand.

"Ladies first, and don't worry if you miss. I've got us covered." Xera said.

"You make it sound like this game is difficult." Blake stated, lining up a shot and tossing her first ring.

The ring sailed into the sea of bottles, bouncing off of a few before falling in between some of the central bottles.

The look on Blake's face was priceless, just the pure image of disbelief and humor was present on her face after she missed her first shot.

"Okay, maybe it is a little difficult."

Her next shot was taken with extreme care and precision, but despite her extraordinary accuracy she still missed the numerous bottles that lay before her.

She gave Xera an apologetic but amused smile, "That was fun but still kind of disappointing. Sorry to waste your money like that." Blake said sheepishly.

Xera chuckled, "Relax, it's worth it if you're having fun. Besides, didn't I say that I have us covered?"

Xera took the one ring that he saved for himself and casually tossed it into the center of the sea of bottles, the ring immediately sank onto the rim of the center bottle without bouncing or hitting any of the surrounding ones.

"And we have a winner!" The announcer exclaimed, handing Xera the giant plush Ursa.

Blake just stood and gawked at Xera, "B-but…how?"

Xera only shrugged, "I get lucky a lot. I'm here with you aren't I?"

Blake blushed at his comment and pulled him into a hug, "I'm lucky that I met someone like you, Xera Stark."

Xera also blushed as they separated, he handed her the stuffed Ursa and let her cling to his arm again. He was starting to enjoy it when she snuggled into his side. They walked off and allowed the people behind them to get a chance at the game, Xera seemingly leading her deeper into the carnival.

The timing was perfect, the sun was just approaching the horizon and Xera's plan was coming to a close. There was just one last thing to do.

They walked up to one of the most famous rides of any carnival, the Ferris wheel. The carts were cycling through and allowing people to get on and off as the operator occasionally stopped the ride so people could enjoy the view.

Blake stepped into one of the compartments and noticed Xera whisper something to the operator before handing him something. She didn't want to spoil anything so she turned her ears out of the conversation.

"You ready?" Xera asked, taking a seat next to Blake.

"For what?" She asked curiously.

"For one of the most beautiful sights you have ever seen."

This immediately perked her interest as they slowly ascended to the top. As they reached the highest possible point of the Ferris wheel, the ride stopped and allowed them to enjoy the view.

"Take a look." Xera stated.

The sun was setting across the surface of the ocean, the different lights of the boardwalk gave the scenery a magical glow and the reflection of the waves was just enchanting. There were shades of purple, pink, yellow, orange…all coming together to create a beautiful sunset.

"It's beautiful." Blake sighed, snuggling back into Xera's side.

Xera and Blake enjoyed the view for another 5 minutes, just enjoying cuddling together and watching the sun dip into the ocean before them.

The ride finally resumed after the sun disappeared, stopping to let the two off and allowing them to start their journey back to Beacon.

They walked in each other's arms all the way back to the Beacon airship. Xera and Blake boarded the vessel and flew back to Beacon, staying in the other's embrace the entire flight.

After the airship landed, they walked into the front doors of Beacon and headed off towards their rooms, stopping in front of team RWBY's dorm.

"Tonight was incredible." Blake said, looking into Xera's eyes, which had transitioned to pink again at some point during their date.

"I would have to agree with you on that one." Xera stated, staring into the pair of amber orbs in front of him.

"Let's do this again sometime, although a little dialed down, maybe something simple next time." She said.

"I'd like that."

Blake gave Xera a quick peck on the cheek and opened her dorm room door, "Good night, Xera."

Xera was furiously blushing at what Blake did but regained his composure, "Good night, Blake."

She gave him another one of her infamous smirks and disappeared into her room.

Xera sighed in bliss and walked to his own dorm room and opened the door, disappearing into his team's room as well.

"Definitely worth it."

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><p><strong>I hope I did alright with the first date, it did actually turn out better than I expected. I had Sky cover what happened inside team RWBY's dorm during preparation for the date...you know...for obvious reasons. Anyway, please let me know what you think and whether or not you enjoyed this chapter. And as always, favorite...follow...review...have a good one guys! Cya! :P<strong>


	24. The Aftermath

**Xera: Sorry for the short chapter, but Sky wanted to make up for not writing as much as she wants to. She hasn't really been helping out with the story considering she's focusing on meeting a deadline for her own story. She made a promise and she intends to keep it :). Anyway, enjoy.**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 24: The Aftermath<p>

**Skyla's POV**

Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Nora, Allix, and I all waited in RWBY's room waiting for Blake to come back from her little date with Xera. He's all grown up! I remember the first time I threw a soda can at him! Ah good memories….

"So ummm," I began, trying to break the awkward silence. "You want to see some baby pictures of Xera that his aunt sent me?" I asked the group.

They all turned to face me interested in how I got these pictures.

"Why would she send you photos of him as a baby?" Weiss asked.

"IDK. She found out we were friends, freaked, and started gushing on about him never having a friend that was a girl before and decided to send me his baby pictures."

"Do you ever use that against him?" Yang asked from her spot on her bed.

I smiled evilly, "He doesn't know I have them."

"That sounds stalkerish," Ruby added, hanging upside down from the bed.

"It does but I can use it to my advantage whenever he tries to tell my crush I like them!" I said.

Allix glanced my way. "You have a crush?"

"No..maybe…uh BABY XERA!" I shouted pointing at my phone rapidly with a picture of Xera as a baby. The girls instantly looked at the phone and cooed.

"Awwww….. Xera is so cute as a baby!" Ruby and Yang exclaimed.

"Is that really Xera as a baby? He looks so little!" Weiss said looking closer at the screen. A new message appeared at the top of my phone.

"Xera's Aunt."

"Does he know his aunt?" Yang asked.

"No not really. I just met her and I was talking about my team and Xera's name popped up and she flipped and asked for his last name. After I told her, she gushed about meeting him when he was a baby and told me she was his aunt."

"She could have been lying." Allix stated simply.

"Yeah but she seemed trust worthy."

Allix snorted. "Yeah like that one old woman you met on the air ship a few weeks ago."

I laughed at the memory. Allix, Rex, Xera and I all were going to visit Vale one day and we came across a woman. She seemed trust worthy and she looked lonely. Me being me, I had decided to go say Hi to her and keep her company. Bad idea…..All she wanted to do was talk about her cats and tried to put a collar on me claiming I was an awfully large kitty cat with a big tail…

"That woman tried to kidnap you!" Allix added as if remembering the same thing.

"Wait, what happened?" Ruby asked curious to why I was almost kidnapped…by a crazy cat lady! She was bonkers like totally lost her marbles.

"Long story," I sighed.

Behind me, the door clicked open and the sound of heels clicked their way in. We all turned to see a smiling Blake entering the room. As soon as she did, she was attacked with waves of questions like, "How did it go?" "Did he treat you well?" "Did you kiss?" and "Where did he take you?"

Blake seemed startled at first before she sat down by the mirror and began brushing her hair in a daze.

"Well spit it out woman! How was the date?" Weiss exclaimed.

"It was amazing!" was all she said.

"Detaaiiillllsss! I need detaaaiiillsss to live!" Nora said leaning over the edge of the bed dramatically.

Yang and I secretly stole glances at each other giggling mischievously. While they were on their date, Yang and I were following them around and watched how the date played out. Romantic really.

Blake giggled slightly before telling us the entire story, enlisting everything Xera had done or said.

"Maybe tomorrow. I'm going to bed. Goodnight." She said disappearing into the bathroom.

Allix, Nora, and I all said our goodbyes before leaving the dorm room while Yang and the rest prepared for bed.

"Aww, I wish she would tell us now! I'm gonna die before she even gets to explain what happened!" Nora said pouting childishly as she made her way to her room.

"Well, I can assure you it's worth the wait." I said smiling.

"How do you know?"

"I have my ways."

"That makes me scared…" Allix said shortly before disappearing into our room. I laughed and skipped in after her waving goodbye to Nora.

"So…the tournament is coming up," I said nudging a dirty shirt with my foot.

"Yup," Xera said, eyes locked on his journal.

"I have some news…"

Rex looked up at me, slightly worried. "Oh no"

"I SIGNED US UP!" I shouted happily.

"All of us!?" Rex asked incredulously.

"Yeah duh."

I bounced onto the bed and smiled broadly.

I fell down on to the pillow and stared at the ceiling while the others stared at me. "We don't even know if we're prepared." Allix said from her bed next to mine.

"Well I thought it would be fun. Plus I was lazy and bored and I just thought I'd be nice."

"The definition of lazy isn't doing something that involves going into town, signing three other people up on a board, and then coming back."

"Lazy is like being Rex," Xera said pointing at Rex hanging off his bed in effort of grabbing his axe. He groaned loudly and stretched his arm out trying to grab it.

I looked at the mini corner I stocked up with food in case I got hungry during the night. I pulled myself up and walked over to it and pulled out a bag of Doritos. I stared at it and crunched up all the chips before returning it back to its spot. I walked over to Xera's spot where he hid his ginger ale and looked at it. Hiding it in the bookcase was not a good hiding spot. I grabbed two cans and shook them both at the same time before placing them back.

"Skyla…you know I can see you," Xera said.

I looked at him. "I know."

"And so why did you shake the cans and put them back?" He titled his head slightly.

"I have no idea." I smiled and walked back over to the bed and flipped open a book and read through it.

"Don't forget to mention she crushed up her own Doritos." Allix added.

"AW MAN! WHY ARE THESE DORITOS CRUMBS?!" Rex shouted, in his hands was the bag I had crushed.

I pointed at him and wiggled my eyebrows.

Prank. Succeeded.

"I'm random!" I suddenly exclaimed.

"We know." Someone said. I don't know who. I was too lazy to see who said that.

"I like cats."

"What?'

"Have you ever realized pineapples never wear bathrobes?"

"Now why would you ask that?" Rex asked.

"Lollipops."

"Rainbows." Xera said from inside his journal.

"Ha! Xera wins the game!" I said towards Rex.

Rex stuck his tongue out at me like a child before crossing his arms.

"It's getting late." Xera stated.

"Yeah, but tomorrow's Saturday, so no school." Rex said, grabbing his guitar.

"Yup, we should all kick back and relax." I declared, arms behind my head as I laid back on my bed.

Allix was the first to snuggle into her bed in an and attempt to catch some sleep.

Rex followed soon after Allix, although he hugged his guitar as he drifted off into a deep slumber.

This just leaves Xera and I. "You know Blake's a cat-faunus right?" He asked.

I looked at me curiously, "Yeah, so…"

He just shrugged and mentioned one thing, "Let's just say she can hear from a distance, especially in an enclosed air ship."

I could feel myself start to look a little sheepish and flustered, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

He smirked to himself and just shrugged, "Sure you don't…good night."

Pretty soon the last of us were all asleep, drifting through unconsciousness in our respective beds.

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><p><strong>Skyla: hey guys. So. If you noticed I wrote the chapter. Sorry if it sucked... I kinda wrote it quickly and my brain hurts xD so many spelling errors xD anyways I suck at an so I'****m just gonna leave it at that. mkay byyeeeeeee**


	25. Shut up and Dance with me

**Just as a heads up, this chapter was inspired by a song I was listening to. Enjoy :)**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 25: Shut up and Dance with me<p>

**Xera POV**

Morning broke in the city of Vale, the light shined through the curtains of my dorm room window, cascading across the other sleeping teens in the room. It was Saturday, which means no school and no work. But why was I awake? Well, I have a plan. Something I've been working on for a while now. I'd say it's been in the making for less than 6 hours, but tonight might just be the night to help out a friend. After all, there's a school dance tonight in the ballroom.

I showered, changed, grabbed some coffee and my favorite mug, and headed out the door. After closing the door behind me I turned and noticed I wasn't alone. Not only was I not the only one awake, but the other person was the very same person I had a plan for.

"Hey, Jaune." I gestured with my coffee mug in his direction, then took a sip. I love coffee, not for the energy but for the taste and warmth.

He groggily turned my way and gave a half-hearted wave, "Morning." He sounded terribly sleep deprived.

I gave him a concerned but knowing look, "Cardin?"

"Yeah, he's still got me under his thumb."

"Need me to do something about it? I can always team up with Nora and break his legs."

He dawned a genuine smile, "As much as I'd love for that to happen, I want to handle this on my own. Anyway…" *YAWN* "…I'm tired, I need sleep, it's the weekend, good-night and good-morning."

And with that, he disappeared into the depths of his room, closing the door behind him.

I took another sip of my coffee and started walking to the cafeteria, passing a few morning people along the way but other than that, it was pretty quiet. After a few minutes of walking and drinking coffee, I entered the cafeteria and noticed it empty. But that also means no food line…

I grabbed some French toast and sat down at the far corner table. The school's breakfast selection wasn't the greatest nor had the best food, but it was still decent enough to keep people at bay. I started running through what I was actually going to do to attempt playing cupid, but I have a feeling that Jaune's too distracted right now to notice. Cardin has really been taking a toll on him.

"Mind if I sit here?"

My train of thoughts stopped as I looked up, "Go ahead." I gestured for her to sit down.

Anna, the café owner and the one who graciously let me use her place for my date, sat down across from me. "So how'd it go?"

I took yet another sip of my coffee, "It went really well, thank you for letting me use the café. Although, were all the candles really necessary?"

Anna only shrugged her shoulders at that, "Meh, I thought it would be romantic."

I gestured with my coffee mug, "And it was, thanks."

She smiled and started eating her own breakfast, consisting of scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and milk. I continued eating my own meal as well when someone else walked into the cafeteria. After a while in line and talking over what was being served with the chefs, he got himself a meal and headed our direction.

"Hey, anyone sitting here?" He gestured to the seat next to Anna.

"Nope." Anna stated, patting the seat next to her.

"Sweet."

He sat down and placed his plate on the table, a noticeable clang sounded as his knuckles bounced off the table top and out from under the plate. That all being because of his prosthetic arm, I figured I should avoid mentioning anything about it.

"So, Rideat, Skyla told me something about you seeing colors?" I asked, slightly curious.

Rideat beamed a happy smile, "Yup, well…something like that. I can see people's aura signature, which happens to be certain colors. It's my semblance."

"Cool, I can do something kind of similar. It's like a dialed down version of a Sensor, but I can weakly sense another person's aura. It's not much but it does the job." I mentioned, taking another sip.

He beamed yet another smile, "Yeah, and I like to use it a lot just to get around. You know, considering I'm blind." Rideat gave a double thumbs up, oddly happy about everything.

"Hey, can you tell me what color I am?" Anna asked, joining in on the conversation.

Rideat appeared to give her a glance, then went back to his food. "You're orange."

She smiled, "Sweet, it matches my clothes."

He laughed a little, although I immediately noticed something about the teen in front of me.

"No way…I've never seen anyone like you before." I looked him over, noticing the pointed canines for the first time.

"What do you mean?" His smile slightly faltering.

"Dude, you are definitely a hyena faunus."

Anna's eyes widened a little, "That actually clears a lot of things up."

Rideat's head was quickly turning back and forth between the two of us, "Wait, seriously? How does everyone notice so easily?! Even Skyla caught on!"

Anna and I laughed a little, eventually being joined by Rideat as well. "Well, did she happen to mention something random that caused you to drop your guard?"

"Yeah, something like that."

I smiled and drank the last drips of coffee I had left, "Yup, that sounds like my partner."

"Alright guys, I'm going to head into Vale and open up my Café. See you around." Anna got up and placed her dishes into the plate return area, then left the cafeteria with a happy wave. We waved her good bye and finished our own meals.

"Well, I'm going to go head off to the forge room and work on a few things." I got up but was stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

"Alright, but before you go." He paused to make sure I was listening, "I don't suppose you'd know anything about a bright orange blur flying through the sky two nights ago? The very same color that exactly matches _your_ aura right now."

I shifted slightly and grabbed the back of my neck sheepishly, "Oh, you saw that huh?"

"Hard to miss with a semblance like mine."

"Do I need to worry about you telling people?"

"Nope, you can do that on your own. Just be careful. I may be a rare kind of faunus, but not as rare as you." He let go of my shoulder and left the cafeteria.

"_Well, that was interesting."_ I thought as I placed my dishes in the plate return and left as well, heading in the direction of the forging room. _"I may need a little back up on this plan. I'll need to talk to Skyla when she gets up, maybe she can help later tonight."_

**Third Person**

-_Later that night, at the school dance_-

Xera walked over towards Jaune who was currently standing by the punch bowl awkwardly with a cup in hand. Xera fixed his bow tie before tapping him on the shoulder.

Jaune jumped a bit before speaking, "Oh, hi"

"What are you doing by the punch bowl?" Xera asked.

"Ah, I don't really mix well in crowds, which is why I'm standing by the punch…..and the trash cans." He said pointing at the cans.

"Why don't you ask Pyrrha to dance?" The black headed teen suggested nodding his head towards the red head chatting to a group of friends. The blond shook his head.

"I can't. I mean I don't know how."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't..." He trailed off stumbling on his words.

"You're nervous aren't you?" Xera said finishing it.

"Yeaahhhhhhh…. But I kinda like it here by the trash cans where I won't step on her feet." Jaune said, taking a sip from his punch cup before shortly spitting it out into the trash can.

"AH YUCK!" He exclaimed whipping his mouth.

Xera nodded before swiftly walking away wishing his friend good luck. "_Note to self, don't drink the punch._"

Skyla pranced around the small area the dance was held in, searching the heads of people for a certain messy blob of black hair. Once she found him, she walked over towards him.

"Xera! How did the chat with Jaune go?" She asked.

"Not good. He won't ask Pyrrah to dance" Xera groaned glancing at Jaune.

"Why?"

"Because he's worried he'd step on her feet and he's nervous."

"Pish posh. That's stupid." Skyla said waving her hand.

"We need to get them together…" Xera said thoughtfully, trying to figure out a plan. Right as Xera was about to drift off into his thoughts, Skyla's squeal broke through catching his attention.

"What if I dance with Jaune and you dance with Pyrrah-" She was shortly cut off by Xera interrupting her plan.

"What does that have to do with getting Jaune and Pyrrah together?"

"Well, if you'd let me finish, I could tell you." Skyla said, scolding Xera. Xera quickly shut his mouth and let her continue her 'supertastic awesome' plan, according to her.

"As I was saying, if I dance with Jaune and you dance with Pyrrah we could meet in the center and they would bump into each other and we'd mysteriously leave leaving them alone to dance." Skyla said happily.

Xera nodded before walking off towards Pyrrah.

He tapped the red headed Spartan dressed in a long deep red dress almost matching her long hair.

"Hey Xera." she waved smiling a bright smile.

"Hey Pyrrah. I was wondering if we could dance." Xera said offering his hand.

Pyrrah looked shocked for a second before nodding and taking Xera's outstretched hand and followed him as he led her to the center of the dance floor.

"Hey Jaune!" Skyla exclaimed jumping in front of him.

"Hey Skyla." Jaune answered back with less enthusiasm.

"Let's dance!" she said quickly grabbing his hand.

"Ah, Skyla, wait!" he said but it was too late. Skyla had already dragged him to the center and began dancing.

Jaune kept his gaze lowered to his feet making sure he didn't step on her feet.

Skyla snapped her fingers making him look up at her.

"Eyes up here and focus on the movement or you'll miss out on everything." She said sternly, glancing to the side before casting her eyes back onto the blond.

"What do you keep staring a-," Before he could finish, Skyla spun him abruptly before releasing him.

Xera danced with Pyrrah slowly, occasionally looking around him when they spun for Skyla and Jaune. Xera was able to snag a small glance of brown and blond hair. Just as he was about to spin her, she began talking successfully stopping him from the task.

"So… How is your team?" she asked trying to make small talk.

"Good. How's yours?"

"Good."

Taking the opportunity to talk about Jaune, he began searching his mind for any questions that didn't seem too suspicious before settling on a more simpler question.

"How are the teammates?"

"Good. Nora's been….her crazy self. Jaune and Ren have gotten close always talking about boy things. One time, I found Jaune talking to Ren while Ren was still in a towel!" Pyrrah said before throwing her head back into a laugh.

Xera chuckled. "Sounds like something Jaune would do."

"It does. Jaune seems to do many strange things but it all ends well." She said.

Xera glanced back at Skyla as she was about to spin Jaune. Xera settle back on Pyrrah and smiled.

"I'm going to spin you so be prepared, okay?"

She nodded preparing herself not to become dizzy from the spin. Xera spun her just in time as Skyla spun Jaune causing him to stumble his way towards the spinning Pyrrah. Just as they collided, Skyla and Xera disappeared into the crowd as the two made eye contact.

"Oh uh, hey Pyrrah." Jaune said awkwardly.

"Hey Jaune!"

"So whatcha doing here?" He asked scratching his head nervously.

"I was dancing with Xera."

"I was dancing with Skyla…" He trailed off looking around himself. "She's gone."

As Jaune was looking, so was Pyrrah, only to find Xera missing as well.

"Well they left us." Jaune said throwing his hands up then down earning a laugh from Pyrrah. Jaune looked at her with a confused face as if asking, "What's so funny?"

"You want to dance, Jaune?" She asked, holding out her hand. Jaune hesitantly took it as they took a step closer.

"Maybe we should go get a drink before we begin dancing. You know I heard that dancing without liquids inside you is really bad. It could cause gas you know." he rambled.

She laughed and began dancing with Jaune before he stopped once again and opened his mouth to begin rambling. "I actually have to go grab some…food. I'm really hungry. Are you hungry? I am. Man I could really go for a glazed cream filled donut. Did you want a donut? I could go get it for us…cause I mean like they're donuts! Who doesn't like do-" He said as Pyrrah shushed him.

"Shut up and dance with me."

Jaune smiled and finally took her hand and let her take the lead in the dance.

Pyrrha and Jaune danced in the center of the dance floor, completely getting lost into the music. Jaune even stopped worrying about stepping on her feet and set his focus on Pyrrha's eyes.

Off to the side, Xera and Skyla re-grouped and fist bumped, eyeing their work dancing around the middle of the room.

"Hey, thanks for the help." Xera spoke up.

"Yeah no problem, it was fun. Anyway, off to the dance floor!" Skyla cheered, skipping off into the crowd.

Xera only smirked and shook his head at his partner's constant excitement about everything. He noticed Blake step up next to him holding two cups of punch.

"I saw what you did for Jaune. That was really sweet."

"Yeah, one sec-" Xera grabbed both cups and tossed them into the trashcan across the room, "Alright, there we go. Trust me when I say not to drink the punch. And thank you, I also had Skyla's help."

Blake smiled and grabbed his hand, "Let's go dance."

Xera shrugged and gave her an assuring smile. She took note of that and pulled him into the crowd. Blake and Xera danced together enjoying each other's company, much like another pairing still in the center of the dance floor, still remaining in each other's arms and moving to the music.

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><p><strong>Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. The tournament is on its way so it should be soon, you can look forward to that. Let us know what you guys think, so favorite...follow...review...have a good one guys! Cya :D<strong>

**Song that inspired this chapter: WALK THE MOON - Shut Up And Dance With Me (The White Panda Remix) [Premiere] on the Proximity YouTube channel, that's where the remix is found. The original can easily be found if you search it up.**


	26. Battle Royal

**Hold tight, this one's a long one...ish. But rather intense might I add, considering it's a couple battles I decided to write up in preparation for the tournament. Enjoy the fights, I didn't write all the characters in, but I did get all the new people and a couple of fun match ups in there. Hope you like it :D.**

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><p>XSRA's Flame Chapter 26: Battle Royal<p>

**3rd Person**

Sunday was, in a way, one of the most anxious and saddening days ever, of all time. Well…not for everybody, but mostly for a certain hyper-active katana ribbon wielder. Why? Because tomorrow meant school starts up again and classes attack from every direction, slowly chipping away at your armor until you collapse in exhaustion…or so she says.

Skyla sat on her bed in team XSRA's dorm room, reading a book she found in Xera's dresser drawer. She didn't bother to ask so she just decided to kick back, relax, and read to her hearts content.

"_WHY IS THIS BOOK SOOOOO GOOOOOD?!"_

She hasn't put the book down for 12 chapters by now, as far as she knows, she's been at it for a couple hours.

Skyla didn't hear the door open and close, not bothering to look up, she was too engrossed into the book anyway. As a shadow loom over her, she waved her hand in an attempt to shoo them away.

"Go away…reading…must finish chapter…" She muttered under her breath.

The shadow seemed to have walked off toward the dresser, checking one of the drawers. Soon, a sigh sounded out through the quiet room and the shadow plumped down onto Xera's bed.

"Is it good?" Xera asked.

…

Nothing but silence…

"Skyla?"

…

Xera took his pillow and hurled it at Skyla, colliding into the side of her head and slowly sliding down her side before plopping onto the bed next to her. Despite the sudden impact, her eyes remained fixed on the pages, not even acknowledging that she was just smacked with a pillow.

"Huh, must be really good then." Xera said, walking over and grabbing his pillow, just as she finished reading the last page in her current chapter.

The black haired teen took this small moment of opportunity and spoke up just as she was turning the page to the next chapter.

"Hey." He waved his hand in front of her face, grabbing her attention instantly.

"GAH!" Skyla jumped 3 feet into the air and fell back onto her bed, breathing heavily.

"WHEN DID YOU GET BACK?!"

Xera chuckled a little at her reaction, "About 2 minutes ago. You even tried to shoo me away." He shrugged casually, grabbing the book in the process, which was lying on the bed and out of Skyla's hands.

"I…don't remember that. It kinda happens when I read a really good book." She giggled sheepishly, still lying on her back.

Xera looked at the book in his hand, reading the title and remembering when he was given the book, _'Behind Those Hazel Eyes'_.

"You know, Blake gave me this book. Can you at least tell me how good it is before I hide it somewhere else, or maybe allow you to finish it if I feel like it." Truthfully, he had no intention of torturing Skyla by hiding that book again. Although, he really wanted to read it now after seeing what it did to Skyla.

She sat up, tear stains under her eyes. Not from crying just now, but sometime before hand.

"So far, It's really really really good. I've already made a deep connection with the main characters, like this one time she was being tak-"

"No spoilers." Xera deadpanned, but gestured for her to continue.

"Well…there was this one part in the book and I started crying, I cried Xera, I FREAKIN CRIED!" She shot her arms out at her sides, making a wide gesture with her hands. "But it was worth it, not a lot of books do that to me." Skyla shrugged and let her arms fall down to her sides, returning back to her usual self.

"Right…well, once you're done, I call reading it next. Deal?"

She nodded her head rapidly, receiving a satisfied smile from Xera as well as catching the book he casually tossed back to her.

"Read it later though, we have some training to do with the others. That's why I came here in the first place."

Skyla placed the book under her pillow for safe keeping, "Fine, but I get to choose my walking punching bag."

"Alright, I guess that sounds fair, now let's go."

He opened the door, letting Skyla step out into the hallway before following behind her. They walked down the hall and towards the outdoor training arenas. Out there were teams RWBY, JNPR, and SNAR, as well as the rest of team XSRA. Most of the members were already sparring in the several small arenas that dotted about, training for the upcoming tournament that they were all signed up for. Some joined the competition willingly, others…not so much.

Ren and Jaune were sparring, the former trying to teach the latter some skills in hand to hand combat. Pyrrha and Weiss were clashing swords in another arena across from Sun and Neptune sparring in a separate area as well. Yang was facing off against Blake, so this only left Ruby, Rideat, Allix, Rex, Nora and Anna.

"So, wanna rematch?" Ruby asked, jumping up and down in front of Allix.

She shrugged casually, "Sure, maybe I can teach you about that glyph."

Ruby squealed and pulled the archer out into one of the empty arenas. "Come on then, let's gooooooo!"

"I CALL SKYLA!" Nora exclaimed, snatching the teen and running for another empty sparring area.

"YEAH!" Was all Skyla yelled as she was carried off.

Anna and Rex walked off in another direction, getting ready to spar each other. _"She's so small compared to him, how is she going to be able to keep up with his strength? Although…I haven't seen her fight yet, so there's no way to tell."_ Xera thought after they walked off.

He then approached Rideat, the last teen still standing and waiting for a sparring partner, "You up for a little one on one, me and you?"

"Yeah sure, but I'm not promising you won't get hurt."

"Meh, nothing my aura can't heal."

"Alright then, let's go." Rideat had a sort of sadistic smirk as they walked into their own arena.

They took up positions and readied their weapons, Xera pulled out his usual Annivia's Talons and waited. Rideat placed his left hand into his sweatshirt pocket and readied his right arm, a small chamber could be seen rotating in the palm of his prosthetic arm, and his metallic claw-like fingers wrapped around a baton. _"Interesting weapon of choice." _Xera thought as he looked his opponent over.

"Ready?"

He received a quick nod in return.

"Alright, GO!"

Rideat charged ahead, using his semblance to be able to see Xera nice and clearly. Despite being blind, his semblance really allows him the option of a second chance, like a backup vision.

Xera blocked the attack with both his blades, pushing back the baton wielder only to have to block another swipe. _"Man, batons are fast."_

They clashed again, somehow Rideat seemed to be able to keep his left hand in his pocket the whole time, letting his right hand do all the fighting. It was almost like a laid back version of fencing, but with a prosthetic arm and unnaturally strength and speed.

Suddenly, Rideat through his baton into the air and pointed his palm at Xera, quickly firing an icy dust flare at the teen. Xera dodged but while side stepping, Rideat caught his baton again and charged in, bashing it into Xera's side.

Xera backed off a bit, taking note of the hidden weapon inside his opponents hand.

"Alright Iron Man, I have to admit, that was pretty cool."

Rideat smiled and took a quick bow with his arm outstretched, "Thank you, thank you."

After the small stall in fighting, they soon resumed and clashed again. Xera threw one of his boomerangs off to the side as he swung with his other one down onto Rideat. Hopefully, he would be distracted enough that he won't notice the boomerang circle around behind him and strike him from the back.

As their weapons clashed again, Xera smirked noticing that Rideat might not have sensed the second weapon homing in. They clashed once more right as the flying boomerang was about to collide with Rideat, but in the blink of an eye he pushed Xera back and spun, smacking the boomerang from the air and changing its flight path back into Xera's hand.

"Good thing you like to push your aura into your weapons." Rideat smirked as they eyed each other up again, ready to attack. At this point though, the hyena faunus started laughing. It wasn't the normal laugh, but more of a sadistic laugh. He was really enjoying this…

Xera knew he could sense aura signatures, but had no idea he was able to sense the aura he pulses into his weapons. _"I think it's time, it's only fair if we both use our semblances."_ He thought, watching as Rideat continued laughing sadistically.

Suddenly, Rideat's smile disappeared from his face and stopped laughing. He looked confused, really confused. _"His aura signature, it's gone!"_

He suddenly felt the cold steel of a blade barely touch his neck, and then was blinded by the bright orange aura appearing directly in front of him.

"Sorry, but I think this means I win. Good match." Xera pulled his sword back and placed both Annivia's Talons onto his back.

Rideat smirked and placed his batan onto his waist and also pulling his left hand back out of his pocket, "That…was a very cool trick. How'd ya do it?"

Xera shrugged, "It's my semblance."

"Sweet."

They looked around, noticing that plenty of their friends were still sparring. Xera turned to his hyena-faunus friend, "Wanna go watch some matches?"

Rideat turned toward a currently exploding arena, "Sure. Come to think of it, I haven't seen my partner fight yet. You in?"

"Sure."

They walked off toward the heated battle between Anna and Rex.

Rex leaned against his great ax, Duel Elektro, panting heavily as he eyed down his equally tired opponent. "You…are…stronger than you look. You know that?"

Anna sheepishly laughed a little bit, a somewhat large baseball bat in her hand and resting on top of her shoulder. "Yeah, or so I've been told."

Rex picked his ax up again and charged the fox-faunus, swinging his weapon in a wide arc. The only way of dodging an attack like that would either be jumping or ducking the swing, but Anna stood her ground. She quickly swung her bat at the incoming attack, setting off a small explosion as it collided with Rex's ax and propelling the ax backward. Her bat completely deflected the attack.

Anna took this window of opportunity and swung at Rex's exposed body, bluntly bashing him in the chest and sending him skidding backward with another small explosion. _"Explosive dust. Now that's definitely something new."_ Xera thought as he watched the match alongside Rideat.

Rex held up his ax defensively, almost knowing what usually follows an attack like that. Anna lifted her bat back onto her shoulder and pointed the handle at Rex. There was a small hole in the bottom of the bat that Xera didn't notice until now.

Anna launched a flurry of explosive dust flares at the silver haired tank, but Rex started spinning his ax in an attempt to lessen the damage, which worked rather well actually.

"You know…you're not so bad yourself. Me and Flare Breaker usually win pretty fast, but you're proving to be above all the people I've fought before." She smiled genuinely, causing Rex to smile as well.

Rex switched Duel Elektro into crossbow form and started shooting lightning dust bolts at Anna, causing her to dodge and swing at any bolts that came close.

At this point, Rex couldn't use his super charged rail gun, but he might be able to enhance his strikes with his Undying Rage semblance. But it's risky, and takes a good amount of aura.

Anna watched as Rex stopped his barrage momentarily and noticed that his eyes pooled red, giving him a much more menacing look. He glared at her and charged, seemingly refueled and ready to go. He swung his ax, and she attempted to deflect it like last time but instead, her bat was the one that bounced back from the collision and the ax continued into her side.

Thankfully, Rex spun his ax slightly and hit her with the flat side of it, negating any lethal injury. But the power was still there and the fox-faunus was sent flying several feet before bouncing off the ground, eventually landing back onto her feet after a few bounces.

She stood up and adjusted her grip on Flare Breaker, causing the bat to transform and extent into a long spear with a large blade at its tip, also laced with explosive dust.

Rex's eyes went wide at the 6 foot spear in her hands. If he thought the bat would hurt, just wait until he starts being overwhelmed by that spear. He also noticed that she no longer had to get in close anymore, in other words, he's screwed. His rage already died down after that attack and he was too exhausted at this point to use it again.

Anna charged in and lunged the spear forward, but was sloppily parried by Rex's ax. He was tired, but he wasn't ready to quit just yet.

He parried several more stab attempts but it wasn't enough, one made it through his defense and collided with his chest. His aura stopped the blade from drawing blood but the explosion sent him flying and causing him to land on his back, several feet away.

Rex groaned as he laid on the ground, dropping his ax at his side. "Yup…you…win…now…let me just lie here for a bit."

Anna was also extremely exhausted, but smiled and plopped down next to the big guy. Lying down next to him and lazily placing her arms above her head on the ground, "Yeah…good match. That was a lot of fun."

"No kidding, good match." He sighed, content at just lying there for a while next to the ginger-haired girl.

A shadow loomed over him as he looked up at two figures, "It was fun to watch too you know." Xera said, looking down at his silver-haired teammate.

"I agree, and Anna, that was some awesome fighting by the way. Oh, and you too big guy." Rideat stated, sitting down next to Anna.

The fox-faunus lazily lifted her hand and Rideat promptly smacked it with his left hand, high-fiving the girl still lying on her back.

"You guys wanna take a break and watch some more matches?" Xera asked.

Anna sat up and nodded, then got pulled up by Rideat as they watched to see what Rex's answer would be.

After a few seconds, he sighed and silently gave a double thumbs up. Xera extended his hand to him and pulled the tank up off the ground, then looked around to see who were still sparring.

"Nora and Skyla are the closest." Rex deadpanned, starting to walk toward the direction of a pink mushroom cloud in an arena nearby.

Xera shrugged and followed his teammate, Rideat and Anna following behind him as they walked up to the arena and began spectating.

The massive pink mushroom cloud dispersed to reveal Nora and Skyla clashing weapons in the middle. Skyla starting swinging wildly with her swords, trying to land a hit on the well defended hammer wielder.

Nora blocked the barrage and swung Magnheld at Skyla, colliding into her blocking swords and sending her back a few feet.

"Hey, do that explosion thing again!" Skyla yelled.

"The pink one?!"

"Yeah!"

Nora planted her hammer on the ground and stepped on top of it, "Kay Kay."

She pulled the trigger and sent herself sailing through the air, at the apex of her flight she gave a little girly sigh and pulled the trigger again, this time sending her straight down at high speeds. She spun and slammed the hammer into the ground creating a massive explosion right in front of Skyla, instantly engulfing her in pink flames and smoke.

After the smoke cleared, Skyla was on her back panting, "THAT…WAS…AWESOME!" She cheered, arms extending out as she remained on the ground.

"Haha, you bet! It's so much fun sparring with you." Nora responded cheerfully, then extended her hand to Skyla. She happily took the hand and was hoisted up onto her feet.

"Yeah! You girls did great!" Rex called out, feeling slightly less exhausted.

"Nice job, both of you." Xera said, loud enough for them to hear but not yelling like the big guy next to him.

"You totally rocked!" Anna screamed, holding up a large orange foam finger. Next to her, Rideat stood with his fists pointed toward the energetic pair and his thumbs pointing to the sky, giving them both a thumbs up.

"Didn't know you guys were watching." Skyla said, approaching the small group of spectators.

Xera shrugged, "We finished our matches, so why not. You in for watching Ruby and Allix? They're the next closest arena."

"Sure."

They walked off and watched the fight between the two in red.

"You've gotten a lot better since the last time we fought." Allix complimented, currently firing arrows at the scythe wielder of team RWBY.

"Thanks. I've been practicing." Ruby called back, dodging the arrows swiftly with a little help of her speed semblance.

Ruby planted her scythe into the ground and suddenly pivoted around, throwing Allix's aim off and sending her in a full sprint toward the archer.

Allix realized that Ruby was covering distance really fast and she desperately needed to think of a defense. She split Kryptonite's Arrow into its sword form and barely deflected the strong swing of Crescent Rose.

They clashed blades, impact rounds being fired as Ruby spun her scythe around her body, sending fast slashes into Allix.

Allix thought fast and went on the offensive, trying to push Ruby back enough for her to gain a little distance. She quickly attacked at Ruby, sending quick but light attacks through the small girls wide swings. _"Despite her speed, a scythe can never be faster that a sword. Hopefully I can take advantage of that."_ Allix thought as she pushed Ruby back a bit, but it wasn't enough.

Ruby spun around and planted her scythe into the ground, she then twirled around the handle and planted both feet into Allix's stomach, kicking her backward a small distance. Ruby quickly followed up by pulling the trigger on Crescent Rose, firing a single impact round toward the archer's chest.

Allix flew backward and bounced to the ground, stumbling as she tried to get back up. She quickly looked around her to try and gain her sense of direction again, but everything was slightly distorted.

Ruby smirked and closed her eyes for just a second before extending her arm and forming multiple speed glyphs around Allix. Ruby quickly charged into the glyphs and started forming her tornado again, but this time, thanks to the extra glyphs she had even more speed, almost doubled the amount from before.

Allix realized this immediately and tried to look for a way out of the storm of rose petals. But before she could take a step, she was launched into the air and twirled around. She spun uncontrollably inside the tornado as Ruby blurred around making the tornado even stronger.

The reaper stepped back and admired her work, then planted her scythe into the ground at a distance and started drawing her aura out. _"The tornado should last just long enough…"_ She smirked to herself as she formed the newly learned glyph in front of her.

Before they started fighting, Allix took the time to teach Ruby that dust enhancing glyph to see if the young leader would be able to use it in battle.

As she remembered what the archer told her, she starting pulsing her aura into the glyph. Soon, the glyph started spinning and a large copy of Crescent Rose appeared and morphed with the glyph. It wasn't spinning nearly as fast as Allix's but it should still work pretty well.

Allix was just recovering inside the tornado, but she couldn't see anything outside the walls of swirling rose petals. She could just barely make out a faint light coming from one side, and she caught a slight glimpse of a spinning glyph- _"Oh crap."_

Ruby lined up the shot and pulled the trigger, sending a large bullet straight into the tornado and colliding the Allix's body. The extra power sent her bursting out of the swirling winds and plummeting straight into the ground nearby. She bounced and skidded to a stop, then rolled over and opened her eyes only to see Ruby looming over her with Crescent Rose at her throat.

Allix smiled at the young huntress-in-training before her, "You did it. Good job."

Ruby grinned and transformed Crescent Rose back to its compact form and placed it behind her lower back, then extended her hand to the downed archer. "Thanks, I had a great teacher."

Allix took the young girl's hand and was pulled up, then noticed 6 teens walking toward them.

"Nice job, Ruby!" Nora called out.

"Yeah, that was pretty awesome. You used that tornado again, but this time it was much much bigger, and you even used Allix's spinny circle of death!" Skyla exclaimed, riding Nora's back and gesturing wildly with her arms.

"Great match, guys." Rex said, walking behind the dynamic duo.

"Yeah, that was pretty cool. Ruby, you definitely improved." Xera said, walking next to the tank and alongside Rideat and Anna.

"We've never seen you fight yet, so based off of what we just saw, I'm kinda scared to go up against you." Rideat admitted, laughing a bit as he scratched the back of his neck.

"We should all totally grab some drinks at my café! It seems that everyone is finished and the rest are heading our way." Anna stated, noticing Blake, Yang, Ren, Jaune, Sun, Neptune, Weiss and Pyrrha.

Jaune looked a little beat up, probably thanks to Ren. Blake stepped over and stood next to Xera, Pyrrha currently looked worried about Jaune's condition but otherwise was pretty happy. Sun and Neptune casually strolled over and Weiss joined the group as well.

They all took the next air ship out to Vale and spent the rest of the day in the city, most of it was spent in Café Royal hanging out and talking. They shared what happened in their own matches and wondered what the tournament will hold in the upcoming weekend. But until then…they'll train their hearts out in preparation for the event whether they signed up willingly, or not.

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><p><strong>What'd you think, good, bad, intense, boring, I'm still working on my fighting interpretations. I also am working on some extra abilities for not only team XSRA, but also for the canon characters as well. Anyway, leave a review...favorite...follow...have a good one guys!<strong>

**...**

**Also, one more thing. Do you think I should go back through and replace 'XSRA' with 'Sahara' for convenience purposes? That goes for Ruby, Juniper, Sonar, Coffee and Cardinal as well. Just a thought I had. Please PM me about what ever you think would be best, this thought is entirely for ease of reading :). Cya ;P**


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